Orange to offer free Wikipedia access in Africa and the Middle East (Europe, Africa, Middle East)
Telecommunications operator Orange has entered into an agreement with the Wikimedia Foundation to provide over 70 million Orange customers in Africa and the Middle East (AMEA) with mobile access to Wikipedia, without incurring data usage charges.
The move comes in an attempt to make knowledge more easily available to Orange mobile customers, in both remote and urban areas, throughout Africa and the Middle East. According to a company report, this new partnership will be gradually launched throughout 2012 across 20 African and Middle Eastern countries where Orange operates, with the first markets launching early in the year. The initiative is part of the Wikimedia Foundation’s mobile strategy that aims to reach the billions of people around the world who access the internet solely through mobile devices.
The report reveals that any customer with an Orange SIM and mobile internet enabled phone will be able to access the Wikipedia site either through their browser or an Orange widget. They can access the Wikipedia encyclopaedia services for as many times as they like at no extra charge as long as they stay within Wikipedia’s pages.
Sue Gardner, Executive Director, Wikimedia Foundation said that Wikipedia is an important service, a public good, and so they want people to be able to access it for free, regardless of what device they’re using. Further, this partnership with Orange will enable millions of people to read Wikipedia, who previously couldn’t.
Marc Rennard, Group Executive Vice President of Orange, Africa, the Middle-East and Asia, commented, in countries where access to information is not always readily available, they are making it simple and easy for our customers to use the world’s most comprehensive online encyclopaedia. It is the first partnership of this kind in the world where they are enabling customers to access Wikipedia without incurring any data charges; and shows Orange’s ability, once again, to innovate in Africa and the Middle East, and bring more value to their customers.
France Telecom sells Swiss unit to Apax Partners (Europe)
Mobile operator France Telecom will be selling its Swiss unit, Orange Switzerland, to private equity investment group, Apax Partners for an enterprise value of approximately USD 2.1 billion. According to company reports, the transaction will be sent to the Board of Directors of France Telecom for approval during the week commencing on January 9, 2012.
As reported earlier, the operator had decided to sell of its Swiss mobile subsidiary in an attempt to achieve sustained growth in a struggling industry and focus its attention on the emerging markets. The company reportedly claims that upon completion, this transaction will constitute a significant step in the optimization of France Telecom’s assets portfolio announced in May 2011.
France Telecom to receive second round bids for Orange Switzerland (Europe)
France Telecom, a leading telecommunications service provider, is expected to receive the second round bids for its Swiss unit, Orange Switzerland, from five potential buyers. According to reports, some of the shortlisted investors include Providence Equity Partners, Apax Partners and EQT Partners. Sources claim that Naguib Sawiris, founder of Orascom Telecom may also bid for Orange Switzerland along with cable company Liberty Global Inc.
As reported by Wireless Federation earlier, the sale of Orange Switzerland was a strategic decision taken by France Telecom in an attempt to achieve sustained growth in a struggling industry and focus its attention on the emerging markets.As per sources, France Telecom hopes to receive between US$ 1.95 billion and US$ 2.60 from the sale.
The sale being advised by Perella Weinber Partners along with Lazard Ltd. is expected to be finalized in the beginning of 2012, wherein France Telecom will reportedly announce the company chosen to acquire its unit.
Skype steps up negotiations with mobile operators to permit internet calls (UK)
Skype technologies, a software application that allows users to make voice and video calls and chat over the Internet, has reportedly approached Ofcom, UK’s telecom authority, as British mobile operators have blocked Internet based calls on their networks. According to reports, Ofcom has said that by blocking Skype’s services mobile operators were restricting innovation and that it may intervene if the operators continue to block the services.
Mobile operators in the US such as Verizon Wireless, have not paced any restrictions on the services offered by Skype, but have infact offered the software on some of its handsets since the past year. However, on the other hand, British operator Vodafone Group Plc requires users to pay an additional charge of $ 23 each month to gain access to Web-based calls on their mobile phone. Further, reports suggest that France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom in UK have banned access to such services.
Sources claim that operators impose such restriction in an attempt to safeguard their profits as well as counter the fall in revenues from traditional voice and message services.
Everything Everywhere announces new bank financing facilities worth $ 1.35 billion (UK)
UK’s mobile operator, Everything Everywhere has reportedly announced new bank financing facilities worth $ 1.35 billion, in the next step towards becoming an independent entity. According to reports, the operator will use the facilities to refinance a part of the loan received by parent companies France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom worth $ 1.93 billion.
As per sources, Neal Milsom, CFO, Everything Everywhere, has said that they are pleased to receive the support of the high quality lenders who are participating in their new bank financing facilities. The participating banks include Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Barclays Capital, HSBC, J.P. Morgan, Lloyds Bank, Morgan Stanley and Royal Bank of Scotland.
Reports suggest that Everything Everywhere claims that the there will be no change in its ownership structure after the refinancing, and that it will continue to be a 50:50 joint venture between France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom.
Orange and BNP Paribas launch m-banking services (France)
Leading telecommunications operator Orange France has reportedly launched the first mobile banking service in the country in collaboration with BNP Paribus. According to reports, the service enables users to manage their accounts as well as make payments through a number of applications using their mobile phones. As per sources the smartphones offer with the service include the Acer Liquid Express, BlackBerry Curve 9360 and Samsung Galaxy Cityzi phones, among others.
Reports reveal that Francois Villeroy de Galhau, head of retail banking, BNP Paribas had said at the time of the agreement that through this partnership they would create a new way of managing bank transactions. Further, Orange’s expertise will enable them to offer all their customers mobile banking making BNP Paribas the first mobile bank in France.
Polish operators fined for misconduct in mobile TV market (Poland)
Polish competition authority UOKIK (The Office of Competition and Consumer Protection) has imposed fines on four of its mobile operators for their conduct in the mobile TV market. According to reports, UOKIK has asked all members of the cartel to stop their practices and have been fined a total of US$ 34 million. The Polish watchdog has reportedly accused the operators of obstructing the development of the mobile TV market.
As per sources, the fines imposed on the operators were in accordance with their market share. France Telecom’s unit was asked to pay the highest at US$ 10.5 million, followed by T-Mobile at US$ 10.2 million, PolkomTel at US$ 10 million and Play at US$ 3.2 million.
France Telecom to roll out optical fibre network along with SFR (France)
France Telecom’s subsidiary Orange has reportedly entered into an agreement with telecom operator SFR in order to provide optical fibre technology across many households in the scarcely populated regions of France. According to company reports, the agreement between the two operators is expected to cover as many as 9.8 million homes.
As per sources, SFR will be required to serve 2.3 million of these households while Orange will serve the remaining 7.5 million according to the terms of the agreement. Industry reports suggest that this investment is a part of Orange’s aim to expand fibre technology to reach as much as 60 percent of the French households by 2020, for which the operator reportedly plans to spend US$ 2.7 billion.
Everything Everywhere to repay loans from parent companies (UK)
Everything Everywhere, the dominant mobile operator in the UK, is reportedly planning to repay the loan taken from its two parent companies, France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom, in an attempt to make itself an independent unit.
As per sources, the operator has lined up seven banks consisting of HSBC Holdings PLC (HBC), Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC (RBS), Morgan Stanley (MS), Barclays PLC (BCS), Lloyds Banking Group PLC (LYG), Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) to raise $ 1.4 billion to repay the loan.
Further, reports also suggest, that the mobile operator plans to raise about $ 1.28 billion from the bond market in 2012 to aid future corporate investment.
Orange Switzerland second round bids expected before year end (Europe)
According to reports, the second round of bids for France telecom’s unit in Switzerland will take place on 12th December. Sources suggest that the bidders shortlisted to submit the second-round bids include Apax Partners, Providence Equity Partners and John Malone’s Liberty Global Inc.
As per sources, Naguib Sawiris, Chairman, Orascom Telecom along with buyout firms such as EQT, Carlyle Group and Bain Capital have also shown an interest in acquiring the swiss unit, but their current involvement in the process is still unclear.
Reports suggest that France Telecom expects to receive between US$ 2.03 billion and $ 2.71 billion for Orange Switzerland. As per sources, Stephane Richard, CEO, Orange Switzerland does not believe that the euro-zone debt crisis would affect the price it could get for the business unit.
As reported earlier, the sale of Orange Switzerland was a strategic decision taken by France Telecom in an attempt to achieve sustained growth in a struggling industry. Sources claim that the company aims to complete the deal by this year end.
