Vodacom eyes acquisition opportunities in Africa (Africa)
South African cellphone operator Vodacom Group Ltd. said that it is ready to grow its operations further across Africa and is on the hunt for small acquisitions.
Chief Executive Pieter Uys told DJN that they feel more comfortable that they have the recipe to be successful outside South Africa. Uys said the company is looking to make smaller acquisitions in the $100 million range focusing on a few countries on the continent that provide a stable political environment, big city populations and which aren’t overcrowded with other mobile phone operators.
As per the report, the key to expansion, Uys said, will be to establish a local presence in each country. When the company first expanded, Uys said it would put together packages in its home base of South Africa and then carry them out to the other countries it operates in–Tanzania, Mozambique, Lesotho and Congo. He added that Vodacom is considering expanding into Angola, Ethiopia and Uganda.
While telecommunications companies in Africa are benefiting from the expansion of its user base as more people enter the cellphone market, that growth doesn’t come without complications.
Vodacom is battling a court case over its 51 percent shareholding in Congo after a former consultant for the company took it to court over a payment dispute. Congolese courts ruled that Vodacom is liable to pay the company, Nememco,$21 million, and said if the company doesn’t settle the payment, the courts will conduct a public auction of its shares in Vodacom Congo on June 3.
Total Vodacom customers rose to 47.8 million for the year ended March 31, up 11 million from the previous year. In South Africa, customers rose by 6.1 million to 28.9 million.
Airtel becomes the first operator to launch 3G in Congo (Africa)
Bharti Airtel, a leading telecommunications operator, has launched 3G services in Congo, making it the first operator to offer such services in Central Africa. As per reports, the company said that the issuance of the licence is a significant move by the Congolese Government and a milestone in a region that is set to embrace first world mobile platforms. Further, company reports suggest that this is the first 3G licence issued in Central Africa and the second amongst the French-speaking African nations, after Senegal.
Sources claim that telecom giant Bharti Airtel has entered into an agreement with Nokia Siemens Networks to deliver the infrastructure required for the deployment of the advanced services. Tiemoko Coulibaly, CEO, Airtel Africa has reportedly said that 3G technology will give Airtel customers the opportunity to interact with data in a different way. He also said that this is why Airtel doesn’t see 3G as a product but a platform that enables the community expand its social and commercial horizons, alongside the rest of the world. Industry sources suggest that Africa currently has as many as 400 million mobile subscribers.
Negotiations on for France Telecom acquiring DRC mobile network
Talks are ongoing between France Telecom and Democratic Republic of the Congo as part of the former’s bid to buy the latter’s stake in Congo China Telecom. The mobile network operator based in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is owned by both ZTE, the China based network infrastructure vendor and the Congolese government; 51% and 49% respectively.
France Telecom is looking to buy out the stake owned by the government while the estimated worth of the mobile network operator is put at $425 million.
As per sources, there are more than one million customers as on March end, accounting for 10% of the market share. In addition, the population penetration of the whole country stands at 15%.
Airtel Congo crosses 5 million subscriber mark
Airtel Congo’s CEO Antoine Pamboro has stated that the operator has passed the 5 million subscriber mark.
According to the company, this achievement was a concrete result of the US$400 million, three-year network investment plan he announced last December.
The operator added 49 cell sites in April and May, bringing telecom services for the first time in some remote villages and giving Airtel the country’s biggest footprint, Pamboro claimed as he unveiled the operator’s new Mapasa SIM pack, a card with two consecutively numbered SIMs that customers can use to make calls at a 30% discount between two phones and receive 10 free SMS each month for one year.
Other advantages of the pack include one month of free data transmission, access to Facebook and e-mail from any compatible handset, and news feeds and ringtones from the Airtel Live portal. Starting in July, Mapasa SIM pack customers will be asked to sign up for a flat rate subscription.
Essar Kenya appoints Madhur Taneja as new CEO
Essar Kenya has appointed Madhur Taneja to replace Atul Chaturvedi as the company’s new CEO.
Taneja has been the CEO of Warid Telecom in Uganda. Chaturvedi, who has been at the helm of Kenya’s third mobile operator for less than a year, moves out to take up what he says are other assignments.
Chaturvedi confirmed his exit and stated that he is in the country until the end of March to take some important projects to conclusion. Essar group has a 51% stake in Warid Telecom, with operations in Uganda and Congo.
Airtel introduces staff transfer program (Africa)
Airtel Africa has launched a staff transfer program which will give African employees the opportunity to gain valuable work experience within the company’s parent company Bharti Airtel. The program started on the 23rd of February, 2011.
The initial phase of the program saw the integration of specialized staff from Bharti airtel into some African markets. In this phase of the program, the initial group from Africa to India will be employees from Airtel’s operations in Congo, Tanzania, Kenya, the democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Niger and Zambia.
They will spend up to one year working within various units, which include Bharti Airtel’s network infrastructure development, solutions for medium sized enterprises, sales & distribution, financial systems, marketing and other functions.
According to Manoj Kohli, CEO (International) & Joint Managing Director of Bharti Airtel, the company’s strongest pillar is the people. They invest considerable resources in developing capabilities whilst giving their human capital opportunities to grow. The transfer of knowledge is a conscious strategy informed by the fact that globalization has changed the required skill sets of the team.
According to Mr. Kohli, the transfer program is a mutually beneficial program between all Airtel operations in Africa and the Indian sub-continent. The need for consumers to leapfrog existing technologies and embrace new innovations is a reality as evidenced by some of the latest innovations rolled out by Airtel in Africa. They need to ensure that their solutions connect in a cultural and socio-economic context. This initiative is just a first step of getting their teams connected across the Globe.
During the launch of its operations in Africa, the telecom operator reiterated its intention to harness local manpower which stands at over 6,500 employees across the African continent. In addition to investing in the skill sets, Airtel has partnered with some of the leading technology providers to develop specialized skills and nurture job opportunities across the continent. The company has kicked off partnerships with global technology leaders such as IBM, Nokia Siemens, Huawei, Ericsson and Business outsourcing partners such as Spanco & Tech Mahindra.
Airtel Nigeria stands by its new name
Airtel Nigeria has defended its decision to change the name Zain Nigeria.
According to Chairman and Managing Director, Sunil Bharti Mittal, the new brand identity gives the company the opportunity to present a single, powerful and unified face to customers, stakeholders and partners around the world.
He added that the new brand identity reinforces Airtel’s promise to deliver innovative services and a superior brand experience to their 200 million customers across Asia and Africa. Now the brand is modern, vibrant and friendly.
Apart from Nigeria, Airtel has operations in Burkina Faso, Chad, Congo, Brazzaville, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Niger, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.
MTN-Orascom will be over twice the size of Airtel & Orange Africa.
MTN-Orascom’s joint subscriber base will surpass the 100 million mark if the deal goes through. This would mean that it will be over twice the size of Airtel Africa & Orange. MTN will get a boost of over 20 million subs from the Orascom deal.
That said, if a deal were to happen, here’s a quick analysis of whats for sale in the Orascom portfolio and why 2 assets are particularly interesting:
1. Djezzy in Algeria: Top line of $1.86 billion with a 46% market share (14.6 million subs) and a 57% EBITDA margin! This is the jewel in the crown. However, there is a downside here as well for some key reasons. Orascom’s relationship with the government and the regulator is strained and Q4 2009 results suffered on account of backdated taxes and penalties. Djezzy has actually seen market share decline by 5 percent and ARPU declined by 16% in 2009. Mobile penetration is in excess of 90% and Q-tel owned Njedma has proven to be an aggressive competitor. Numbers are big and exciting but the hay-days might just be getting over pretty soon though.
2. Tunisiana in Tunisia: Orascom owns half of Tunisiana alongside it’s arch rival in Algeria, Q-Tel (Wataniya) which owns the remaining 50 percent. With 53 percent market share (5.2 million subs) and 54% EBITDA margin this is another rock and roll story. However, with Orange launching and that too with an exclusive 3G license, pressures will build up sooner rather than later.
3. CellOne Namibia, Telecel Zimbabwe, Telecel Central African Republic & U-com Burundi together have 1.8 million subscribers and contribute only $81 million to the top line.
If the deal were to go through then Djezzy will be the third largest operation in the MTN-Orascom combine, after Nigeria and South Africa.
Here’s a snapshot of what the MTN-Orascom would look like (Figures are sourced from Wireless Intelligence)
Bharti-Zain deal gets Uganda support
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Uganda has expressed its support for Bharti- Zain deal if Bharti Airtel follows domestic laws for the transaction. The announcement was made by East African nation’s regulatory authority which also opined that transfer of ownership in the telecommunication sector in Uganda is not new and even the current owners of Zain bought from another company.
On March 31, Bharti and Zain inked a deal as per which the former will buy Zain’s assets 15 African countries, including a unit in Uganda with an aim to expand its market overseas.
Earlier, it was reported that Congo Republic’s telecommunications ministry might block the sale of Zain’s unit in the country because the company failed to provide advance notification.
Bharti- Zain Africa deal faces fresh hurdle
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: A fresh hurdle in the Bharti Airtel and Zain Africa deal has emerged after the change in ownership at the country’s dominant telecommunications provider has been branded as a violation of the law of our country†by government of the Republic of Congo. The Congolese government denied of any information about the proposed transfer of the license under which Zain operates.
According to Thierry Moungalla, telecoms minister in the central African oil-producer, the government cannot conceive that a buyer or a seller could at no point of the process inform the authority that had granted the license and this clearly reflects the violation of the law of the country. By breaching the law, the operator may be fined or have its license suspended and, as a last resort, terminated. However, the action of the government has still not been revealed.
The Indian group is poised to become the world’s fifth-biggest mobile carrier after it signed the deal, which placed an enterprise value of $10.7bn on the assets, two weeks ago.
