Augere Wireless plans to end business operations in India (India)
Augere Wireless, a company backed by France Telecom and private equity funds, is set to sell its 4G spectrum in two states and quit India, as regulatory uncertainty has forced its investors to hang up on the country, according to a report by ET.
As per the report, two company executives said Augere was shutting down its India operations and had asked its employees in the country to resign. Augere is the second 4G spectrum holder that is close to exiting the wireless broadband space.
As reported earlier, Qualcomm is said to be in advanced talks with leading operator Bharti Airtel to sell its 4G licences. Airtel is the only operator in India to have launched 4G services.
Augere Wireless CEO Lars Henrick Stork said the company had stopped all operational activities in India and had asked employees to go on leave as it was reassessing its plans here. He blamed the regulatory uncertainties surrounding India’s telecoms sector and said it had resulted in the company being unable to raise funds from both national and international investors.
In a conversation with ET, Stork said that there is a lot of uncertainty hanging over the telecoms sector in India. The cancellation of licences by the Supreme Court, Trai’s rules for re-auction and the exorbitantly high reserve price, as well as lack of clarity on the new telecoms policy, which was supposed to be unveiled by mid-last year and has not happened yet; all these factors have resulted in their investors stopping funding for their activities here.
Augere’s investors include former Orange CEO Sanjiv Ahuja, Harbinger Capital, France Telecom, New Silk Route and Vedanta Opportunity Fund. The company also offers its services in Asia and Africa under the Qubee brand.
Roaming deal between France Telecom and lliad may result in $2.63 billion (Europe)
Mobile operator France Telecom’s Chief Executive Stephane Richard has said that the roaming deal with competitor Iliad could generate an amount of $2.63 billion in an interview with the Liberation newspaper.
Richard added that they had said the contract would bring $1.3 billion. However, it could be double depending on Free’s capacity to develop its network.
He said that Free quickly gained a significant market share as it offered fees as low as $2.6 a month. Free mainly sells pre-payment lines without handset, an offer that may convince as much as 15 percent of the market.
France Telecom agrees to Mobinil’s buyout terms (France, Egypt)
Mobile operator France Telecom has finalized the agreement terms to buyout shares in Mobinil, an Egypt based telecom company, from its local partner OTMT.
According to reports, the companies said in a statement that the agreement means France Telecom will now launch a tender offer to acquire 100 percent of Mobinil’s capital at a price of $ 33.5 per share, subject to regulatory approval.
The statement added that OTMT is expected to receive aggregate proceeds of $994 million for its direct and indirect ECMS stake tendered.
As per reports, France Telecom would control a 95 percent stake in Mobinil post this agreement. The move comes as an attempt by France Telecom to enhance its presence in emerging markets.
Orange Armenia partners with MegaFon for revolutionary roaming service (Middle East)
Orange Armenia, subsidiary of France Telecom, together with MegaFon, one of the three largest Russian operators announced the start of a strategic partnership between two companies. Thanks to this new partnership Orange customers will benefit from unprecedented tariffs when roaming in Russia. In particular, when using the roaming service in MegaFon network, Orange Armenia customers will make and receive calls to and from Orange Armenia and MegaFon customers at a rate of only US$ 0.08.
Bruno Duthoit, Orange Armenia CEO, said that Orange is a powerful international player, and they are keen to provide customers with the best deals not only in Armenia, but also in roaming, specially for those countries they travel the most. Russia is one of the most popular destinations for Armenians, and they are happy today to offer the same tariff as for local calls in Armenia. Many Armenians, when they go to Russia, buy a SIM card of a local operator which generally has a very short lifetime, from several days to several weeks. From now on, customers will not need it and when leaving to Russia, they will feel themselves almost like home.
Konstantin Solodukhin, Deputy CEO for Development of National and International Long-Distance Communications, said on this occasion that for operators, the main factor for a successful roaming policy is having effective relationships with foreign partners, which will allow them to offer low rates for using mobile services abroad.
On MegaFon network Orange Armenia customers will have other advantages as well. The minute rate for all other incoming calls and for outgoing calls to other Russian operators will be $ 0.15, while calls to other operators’ customers in Armenia will be charged at $0.31 per min. Orange Armenia customers will also have an exclusive tariff for GPRS roaming charged at $0.23 per MB.
The exclusive roaming rates are available from April 1 to June 30.
Three delays mobile payment platform launch (UK)
Three leading telecom operators in UK had come together to offer customers a common platform for mobile payment services. As reported earlier, mobile operators Everything Everywhere, O2 and Vodafone revealed plans to offer consumers a common platform, enabling them to pay for goods and services using their mobile handset.
However, according to reports, mobile operator Three has opposed these plans, stating that such a move is discriminatory, as it was excluded from the same. The plan, which has been forwarded to the European Commission for approval, may be delayed owing to this opposition.
Stephen Lerner, regulatory affairs director at Three, said that the JV will control and sell access to over 90 per cent of UK mobile subscribers and their data, thus allowing Deutsche Telekom, France Telecom, Vodafone and Telefónica to foreclose the market to third-parties and neatly do away with the inconvenience of competing with each other.
He added that they will continue to work with the competition authorities in Europe and the Office of Fair Trading in the UK to ensure that consumers benefit from the development of a competitive market for these services.
France Telecom plans 500,000 subscriber additions in Kenya (Europe, Africa)
As per reports, Mickael Ghossein, CEO, France Telecom has said that the Kenyan unit plans to add 500,000 users to its network by the end of 2012 and wants the regulator to double rates operators can charge to carry each others’ voice calls.
He added that Telkom Kenya is targeting 3.3 million customers, or 11.2 per cent market share, from 2.8 million users now. Further, the company wants Kenya’s telecommunications regulator to raise termination rates to $0.05 a minute to help it recover costs.
Ghossein also said that it is good to protect the consumer; but it is also good to protect the investors.
According to a report by the Communications Commission of Kenya, the number of people using mobile phones in Kenya rose to 26.5 million in September, up from 25.2 million in June. The report revealed that Safaricom accounted for 68 per cent share of the market, followed by Airtel Networks Kenya Ltd. with 16 percent.
Deutsche Telekom to review UK business venture (UK)
Deutsche Telekom AG is pondering over the options to call it quits in the UK market. Exit options are being considered by the Deutsche Telekom due to the requirement of additional funds, as it was unsuccessful in selling its T-Mobile USA unit.
The company needed to raise funds for reducing its debt by US$17 billion and had the plans to repurchase its own shares worth US$ 6.5 billion. Deutsche Telekom also needs funds to upgrade fiber and wireless networks in Germany and other European markets. The deal between Deutsche Telekom and AT&T Inc. to sell off the T-Mobile for $39 billion was cancelled due to the disapproval by the regulatory authority.
As per sources, the company is eyeing options to sell out Everything Everywhere, a joint venture with partner France Telecom and planning to look out for a third-party buyer for the entire operator. Everything Everywhere’s effort to move its clients from short term contracts to larger ones, resulted in a 4.3 per cent decline in third-quarter company sales.
With all the speculations in the background, Deutsche Telekom is looking forward to upgrade the operational performance prior to any decision on sale, as it has still not appointed any investment banks for suggestions on the exit option. However, the company has cleared the air and has confirmed that it has no plans to exit the UK market and has a strong foothold amongst its competitors. However, France Telecom refused to comment on the issue.
France Telecom may increase stake in Mobinil (Egypt, Europe)
Telecommunications company France Telecom is reportedly discussing plans to increase its stake in Mobinil, a joint venture between France Telecom and Orascom Telecom Media and Technology by purchasing a part of Naguib Sawiris’s holding.
The increased holding will enable France Telecom to enhance its presence in Egypt as well as counter its declining profit margins in its home market.
According to reports, France Telecom currently owns about 71 per cent of Mobinil Telecom Co., the holding company that controls 51 per cent of Mobinil; while Orascom Telecom Media & Technology controls 29 per cent of the holding company as well as a 20 percent stake in Mobinil.
