Egypt

Orascom Bangladesh raises $102m in a corporate deal

On 03.17.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: $102 million has been raised by Orascom Telecom Bangladesh, a subsidiary of Egypt’s Orascom Telecom, through Bangladesh’s biggest corporate bond deal, thus smashing the previous record of Grameenphone, just after four months. Orascom’s biggest rival in Bangladesh sold shares for $71m in the country’s largest initial public offering.

The deal though small in global terms is still another sign that the country’s capital markets are flickering back into life. Investor’s confidence in Bangladesh is also reflected through the deal. According to Shams Zaman, of Citi Bangladesh, which arranged the deal, investor confidence is coming back and Orascom bond shows that it’s possible to raise sizable amounts of financing from the local market.

Bangladesh is undergoing a heated competition as in January, Bharti Airtel, the Indian telecoms group, bought 70 per cent of Bangladesh’s Warid Telecom for an initial investment of $300m. Grameenphone, Bangladesh’s biggest telecoms company also raised $71m from local retail investors and a further $70m from selling shares to local institutions.

Telenor sees potential in Pakistan

On 03.17.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: It has been announced by telecom operator Telenor that the operators are not generating enough profit per phone user to have five mobile groups in Pakistan. The operators would have to consider mergers or acquisitions to see significant growth.

Telenor made its entry into Pakistan exactly five years ago and currently it is the second largest cellular phone operator after Mobilink, a subsidiary of Egypt’s Orascom Telecom.Pakistan’s. The other mobile operators include Ufone, Warid Telecom and Zong.

Telenor is considering a broader expansion in Pakistan along with India, Thailand, Malaysia and Bangladesh. 26 per cent of revenues in 2008 by the company were generated in Asia. The rest of the income came from eastern and central Europe and the Nordic region.

Telenor’s has been concentrating its attention on its 67.3 per cent investment in Unitech Wireless of India but big potential is also seen in Pakistan, which has seen a phenomenal increase in the number of mobile phone users over the past decade.

Tagged with: Ufone • Acquisition • ASIA • Bangladesh • Egypt • Europe • India • Malaysia • Mergers • Mobilink • Orascom • Pakistan • Telenor • Thailand • Warid Telecom

Telecom Egypt eyes integrated telecom company

On 03.16.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Acquisition of an integrated telecom company has been considered by state-owned Telecom Egypt which is the only provider of fixed-line services in the country. If the fourth mobile license arrives in the market, the company would consider making a bid for it.

However, no timeline for the acquisitions has been given and the possibility of a fourth mobile license depends on the Egyptian regulator.

According to firm’s chief executive officer, Tarek Tantawy, the company is interested in increasing its exposure to mobile and the market can sustain a fourth player and if it comes up the firm is more than interested.

Profit contribution in 2009 from Vodafone Egypt increased 8% year-on-year to EGP1.4 billion and its total customers stood at 23.3 million at the end of December. Telecom Egypt has a 45% stake in Vodafone Egypt.

Tagged with: Acquisition • Africa • Egypt • Telecom Egypt • Vodafone • Vodafone Egypt

MobiNil targets to finalize LINKdotNET deal within a month

On 03.12.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: A deadline has been set by Egyptian Company for Mobile Services (MobiNil), to complete the acquisition of broadband provider LINKdotNET (Egypt). MobiNil, which is Egypt’s largest mobile network operator by subscribers, is currently at the center of an owner ship dispute between France Telecom and Egyptian telecoms group Orascom Telecom.

Acquisition of LINKdotNET from Orascom will also be finalized by the company within a month. According to MobiNil chairman Alex Shalaby, the company has set an internal target, within the board, and it would like to see this completed and concluded within 30 days, within a month from the board meeting which took place on March 9.

In 2009, it was reported that Orascom has suspended its sale talks until the MobiNil ownership dispute and earlier this week it came to light that an Egyptian court had delayed the next ruling on the matter until March 27.

Tagged with: Acquisition • Africa • Egypt • France Telecom • LinkdotNet • Mobinil • operator • Orascom Telecom

Telecom Egypt stake might be sold by the govt

On 03.10.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: 80% stake in fixed line incumbent Telecom Egypt (TE) is considered to be sold by the Egyptian government. However, no final decision has been reached till now on such a divestment and no timeframe for a final decision on a stake sale has been suggested. Any such would also require prior approval from the cabinet.
After selling 20% tranche in December 2005, remaining 80% is held by the government.

According to Tarek Kamel, Egypt’s communications minister, depending on ongoing studies with experts and consultancies, an additional stake from Telecom Egypt could be listed on the stock exchange in the future. He also announced that fourth mobile license could also be offered again depending upon further studies on market dynamics and the added value of such an act.

Telecom Egypt has also expressed its desire to look to bid were such a concession put up for grabs.

Tagged with: Africa • Egypt • Telecom Egypt

Egypt’s MobiNil reports 8% increase in revenues

On 02.15.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: As a result of the strong subscriber growth, Egyptian cellco MobiNil witnessed 8% year-on-year increase in its revenues with EGP10.8 billion (USD1.9 billion) for 2009. 9% increase in the EBITDA has also been reported going up to EGP5.1 billion while net income came in at EGP2 billion, up 3%.

The subscriber base of the company stood at 24.1 million at December 31, up from 19.2 million twelve months previously.

Due to the staunch competition between MobiNil and rival cellcos Vodafone Egypt and Etisalat Misr (Nile Telecom), the average monthly ARPU across the year fell from EGP46 in 2008 to EGP39 in 2009.

Tagged with: Africa • EBITDA • Egypt • Mobinil • Nile Telecom

Nokia’s Comes with Music service released in Middle East

On 02.11.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Nokia’s Comes with Music service has been released by the firm in the Middle East, available in the region next month along with its new X6 handset. Users will have access to a music catalog of an estimated four million tracks from international and regional labels by purchasing the new Nokia X6 16 GB Comes With Music edition.

They can download the tracks for free for 12 months, and use across multiple devices including their computer, laptop and MP3 players. 3.2-inch touch display, 16GB of memory, a 5 megapixel camera and a battery life that can play up to 35 hours of music are some of the features of X6.

The service covers eleven regional countries – Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestinian Territories, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Tagged with: Bahrain • Comes With Music • Egypt • Iraq • Lebanon • Middle East • Nokia • Qatar • Saudi Arabia

100,000 subscribers sign up Orascom’s CHEO in its first year

On 02.04.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: 100,000 subscribers have been added by CHEO Technology operating under the Koryolink brand in its first year and expect to add millions more in the next five years. CHEO Technology is the North Korean subsidiary of Egypt-based telecoms group Orascom Telecom.

Although the handset price of USD195 places wireless services out of the reach of the average citizen, the increasing subscription figures show that mobile phones are not limited to elite members of the military and communist party. Koryolink currently offers only a basic voice and SMS service while international calls and roaming are not provided by the operator.

A 25-year license to operate 3G services was awarded to Koryolink in January 2008, with the first four years on an exclusive basis. 75% of the company is owned by Orascom telecom and 25% by state-owned Korea Post and Telecoms Corporation.

Tagged with: 3G • Africa • ASIA • CHEO Technology • Egypt • Korea • Korea Post and Telecoms Corporation • Koryolink • operator • Orascom

Bangladeshi mobile market grows despite slow ‘09

On 01.15.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: With an annual rise of 17 percent, 7.79 million subscribers were added by six mobile phone companies in Bangladesh. However, this has been the lowest growth rate since 2005. The lower growth rate has been attributed to the operators’ reluctance to offer attractive packages to woo new customers because of a higher SIM.

It has been expected that by offering lucrative packages and by putting pressure on profit margins and revenues, an increase from 52.4 million users at the end of 2009 to 70 million by 2011 can be achieved.

The subscriber base of Grameenphone, majority owned by Norway’s Telenor is raised by 11 percent, or 2.27 million, to 23.26 million. Egyptian Orascom Telecom’s Banglalink added 3.54 million and third-ranked Aktel added 1.09 million. Warid Telecom, Bangladesh’s fourth-biggest telecom also attracted 66,000 customers to reach 2.99 million in 2009.

Tagged with: Aktel • ASIA • Bangladesh • Banglalink • Egypt • Europe • GrameenPhone • Norway • operator • Orascom • Telenor • Warid Telecom

Egyptian court’s verdict against France Telecom

On 01.14.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: With the blocking of France Telecom’s offer for minority stakes in the Egyptian mobile operator by Egyptian court, all hopes of the operator to take full control of ECMS were dashed. The decision was taken after the price of €1.5bn offered by France’s group to for outstanding stakes in ECMS, due to expire on Thursday was considered to be too low.

The decision is pronounced as victory of Orascom Telecom, locked in a lengthy battle with the former French monopoly for control of Egypt’s largest mobile company. The ownership and strategy of France Telecom, the largest mobile operator in the Middle East by subscribers will also loom in uncertainty because of the decision.

ECMS is controlled via Mobinil by France Telecom and Orascom in which France Telecom owns 71.25%, Orascom 28.75% and Mobinil owns 51%. The two owners have been at loggerheads for years over a strategy for the Egyptian operator.

Tagged with: Africa • ECMS • Egypt • France Telecom • Middle East • Mobinil • operator • Orascom