BayanTel to seek partnership with VAS providers (Philippines)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: BayanTel is looking for a domestic value added service (VAS) providers rather than looking for a strategic investor to help out the loss-making telco. CEO of BayanTel Tunde Fafunwa reportedly said the new business plan is expected to shore up phone firm’s position in the broadband sector. ‘We are more focused on partnership with service providers. Together, we can come up with new products and services. A lot of things are happening in the market, particularly in the area of content and media. Cooperation and partnerships are definitely going to be more evident in the future,’ he added.
Earlier, BayanTel CEO said the company was open to a possible sale with another entity, be it foreign or local. There were unconfirmed talks that BayanTel could be the next target of Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT), which has acquired an indirect stake in Manila Electric Company, another Lopez-controlled firm, through a group affiliated to Manuel V Pangilinan, chairman of the country’s largest phone firm.
Euskaltel ends 2006 with net profits up 35%
Basque telecoms operator Euskaltel has reported a 35% rise in net profit to EUR32.5 million (USD42.7 million). The growth in profits was due in part to a 6% rise in earnings, which climbed to EUR333 million. The figures give Euskaltel a 27% share of the Basque telecommunications market, where – according to its own data – it leads the broadband sector with a 44% market share and 146,000 customers. The operator claims 380,000 lines in service and 327,000 fixed-line telephony customers, in addition to 46,700 digital TV subscribers.
Source- telegeography Wireless Mobile Telecom
