Serbia to be advised by Citi consortium on Telekom sale
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Serbia has got a consortium led by Citigroup as the sole bidder to advise it on the sale of a 40% stake in Telekom Srbija. Two week time has been left with the tender commission to consider the financial offer by the consortium and decide whether to accept it.
Plan to sell of half the 80% stake in Telekom Srbija has been announced by Belgrade in March along with the investment of the money in infrastructure projects.
Government called a tender for a financial advisor as a part of the sales procedure to determine the value of shares and advise the best sale procedure. According to Deutsche Telekom, it is mulling an offer for the stake; it already has an interest via Greek operator OTE which owns the remaining 20% of the Serbia Company.
China Unicom expresses interest in Nigerian telco, Nitel
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: China Unicom has changed its denial in which it showed its non interest in the long winded privatisation of Nigerian telecoms network operator, Nitel. The company has clarified that a UK-based subsidiary has indeed been in talks with other groups about joining a consortium in a joint bid.
According to China Unicom, Unicom Europe has indicated its interest in the provision of technical and managerial support services in relation to the proposed privatization and it has also indicated that, subject to certain conditions being fulfilled, it would be interested in exploring the possibility of equity investment in Nitel.
A consortium, New Generation Telecommunications was named by Nigerian govt last week as the preferred bidder for the 75% stake in the dominant landline operator. However, it was later clarified that China Unicom’s UK subsidiary might take a 20% stake, although it was not clear if that was 20% of the consortium, or 20% of Nitel.
TI shortlists three bidders for its Argentina unit
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Three potential buyers have been narrowed down by Telecom Italia (TI) for its 50% stake in Sofora, the holding company that controls fixed line incumbent Telecom Argentina. All the three buyers are local companies whose offers ranging from USD580 million to USD630 million.
Argentina Airports 2000, a consortium led by Eduardo Eurnekian and Henry Gutierrez; property development firm IRSA Inversiones y Representaciones and local investor Alfredo Roman have been identified as the potential buyers.
Earlier this month, issued by the country’s antitrust agency, the National Commission for the Defense of Competition (CNDC) has been revoked by a court in Argentina in which TI was ordered to sell its 50% shareholding in Sofora.
Etisalat mulling over Iraq’s telecom option, to decide by year en
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The second-largest Arab telecom operator by market value, Emirates Telecommunications Corp, or Etisalat said that it will decide whether to bid for a licence or buy a stake in a local player in Iraq, by the end of 2009.
The company is holding talks with Korek Telecom of Iraq, to acquire 51% stake in the company. Etisalat is also planning to bid for fourth mobile telecom license in Iraq after the government announced plans earlier this year to launch a new auction.
Etisalat is waiting to hear from the Libyan authorities about the company’s bid for a license in the region besides, bidding for third mobile license to be launched by the Syrian government.
The company is also keeping a close eye on Iran’s situation where the Abu Dhabi-based company along with a consortium won an international tender for Iran’s third mobile phone license in 2009. However, the deal later fell through.
MTNL, BSNL refuse to form consortium to buy Zain stake (India)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: MTNL and BSNL have refused forming a consortium to buy a 46% stake in Zain.It was earlier reported that India’s Vavasi Group, and Indian state-owned operators BSNL and MTNL as well as Malaysian businessman Mokhtar al-Bukhari would pay KWD 2 a share for a 46% stake in African and Middle East mobile operator Zain Group.According to the statement issued by MTNL and BSNL, they are not participating in a consortium but that they are always on the look out to explore all types of overseas business opportunities to expand operations.
Egypt to sign 3rd mobile license contract with UAE company-led consortium
The Egyptian government is expected to officially sign on Aug. 21 the third mobile-network license contract with a consortium led by Etisalat, a UAE-based telecom company, the state-run daily Al-Gomhuria reported.
Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif will attend the signing ceremony, said the daily.
The new company led by Etisalat is set to begin providing mobile services by mid-February in 2007 in major Egyptian cities and resorts, such as Cairo, Alexandria, Hurghada and Sharm el- Sheikh, according to Egyptian Minister of Communications and Information Technology Tareq Kamel.
The Etisalat-led consortium has deposited the full amount of the license fees to an designated Egyptian bank account, said Amr Badawi, Chairman of the National Agency for Regulation of Telecommunications.
On July 4, Etisalat beat eight other bidders to win the third mobile phone network license, along with its three other Egyptian partners, namely, the Egypt Post, the National Bank of Egypt and the Commercial International Bank.
The consortium won the bid by offering a staggeringly high price at about 2.9 billion U.S. dollars.
The new service provider will use the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) system and the third-generation (3G) technology for its network.
The current Egyptian mobile service market is shared by Vodafone Egypt and Mobinil, a joint venture between Egypt’s Orascom Telecom Holding and France Telecom.
Vodafone Egypt and Mobinil had a combined subscribers of about 13 million at the end of 2005.
Source- http://english.people.com.cn
Technorati : 3G, Egypt, GSM, Mobinil, Orascom, Vodafone Egypt
Ice Rocket : 3G, Egypt, GSM, Mobinil, Orascom, Vodafone Egypt
