Qtel launches mhealth service (Qatar)
Telecommunications provider Qtel has reportedly launched a mobile health service enabling users in Iraq, Palestine and Kuwait to receive personalized health tips on their mobile phones. According to reports, the telecom operator will organize mhealth workshops in partnership with GSMA in an attempt to raise awareness and reach out to more customers.
As per sources, the operator believes that mobile health helps provide people living in remote areas access to necessary medical information. Reports reveal that Dr. Craig Fridericks, Director (Health), GSMA, said that they are working with mobile network operators (MNO) worldwide to highlight how they can implement mHealth initiatives into the market that will offer significant health and lifestyle benefits to end users.
Zain signs network outsourcing deal with Ericsson (Middle East)
Zain, a leading telecom operator in the Middle East, has reportedly signed a network outsourcing deal with Sweden based Ericsson worth $650 million, in an attempt to improve the quality of its network.
According to reports, under the five year deal, Ericsson will manage Zain Iraq’s mobile network and IT operations and is the next step towards the operator launching third generation (3G) services. Further, Zain has reportedly said that the agreement covers Zain Iraq’s 3,700 network sites, including the Kurdish north where the operator recently launched commercial services, and will enable it to reduce operating costs and bring products and services to market quicker.
The operator claims that this agreement is a significant deal for Zain as it is expected to enhance the company’s competitiveness in the Iraqi market.
Mobile operators in Iraq prepare for the IPO process (Iraq)
Iraq’s Communications and Media Commission has reportedly asked the country’s three operators, Zain Iraq, Asiacell and Korek to offer a quarter of their shares on the Iraq Stock Exchange by August 2012. As per industry sources, the IPO (Initial Public Offering) process could raise over US$ 3 billion for the three operators and if successful, could also double the size of the country’s stock market to $ 8 billion.
However, sources claim that concerns have been raised over the ability of the domestic investors to carry the expected size of the flotation given the challenging capital markets elsewhere in the world. According to reports, in an attempt to increase the shareholder base, banks are considering bringing in international investors along with the domestic investors.
As per sources, the banks chosen for the process include Citigroup, BNP Paribas and NBK for Zain Iraq; HSBC and Morgan Stanley for Asiacell while Korek is yet to finalise its advisors for the deal.
France Telecom to acquire Congo-China Telecom (France, Africa)
France Telecom SA, a dominant telecommunication company in France, is reportedly looking to purchase Congo-China Telecom, the fourth largest telecom operator in the Democratic Republic of Congo. As per reports, France Telecom will acquire 51 percent of Congo-China. Congo had earlier approved a 49 percent stake sale to France Telecom for which the African country expected to receive $78 million, according to Faustin Mpako, Chief of Staff, Portfolio Ministry.
France Telecom has been entering new markets such as Iraq and Morocco so as to increase its revenue which has been stagnant owing to the increase in mobile penetration in most markets. However, industry analysts believe that Congo may prove to be challenging owing to its lack of infrastructure and low mobile penetration. Further, it also considered as one of Africa’s poorest nations with an average per capita income of only $300.
Asiacell to provide mobile solutions in Northern Iraq using the Altobridge lite-site solution
Asiacell, the first telecom company to provide coverage for all 18 provinces in Iraq, is reportedly planning to roll out mobile voice, broadband and SMS services in remote areas across Iraq, with the help of the Altobridge lite-site solution. Initially, the solution will be deployed in communities in Sulaimaniya in Northern Iraq.
As per reports, Dr. Diar Ahmed Asiacell CEO, claims that the Altobridge lite-site is a cost-effective and energy-efficient solution that helps optimize capital budgets while minimizing backhaul. Further, Mike Fitzgerald, Chief Executive Officer at Altobridge, says that their solution is optimized for solar power, thereby removing the high cost barriers of diesel generators.
If sources are to be believed, the Altobridge lite-site, which combines the 2G/3G and VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminal) technologies, uses 50% less backhaul than competing optimized solutions and offers quick and easy deployment with the compact, all-in-one design of the altoPod.
Continued subscriber growth fuels 17% rise in Zain profits (Kuwait)
Zain posted a 2% increase in its revenues for the first half to record $2.38 billion, discounting cash inflow and capital gain in the wake of the sale of the Zain Africa assets, closed in June 2010.
The company’s net profit also rose by 17% to $506.5 million, in comparison to the figures from last year for the same period.
Zain also recorded a 16% year-on-year growth in subscriber base across its all operations, and as on 30 June, 2011, the telco boasted of 39.6 million active subscribers. In the same vein, there were 5.4 million new adopters of the Zain Group in the last twelve months; Saudi Arabia contributing the highest with 32% growth, and accounting for 9.1 million customers in total while Sudan witnessing a 24% growth, taking the tally of customers to 11.4 million. In addition, the subscriber base for Zain Kuwait rose by 7%, propelling the number of customers to 2 million while Jordan with 5.5% increase and Iraq 5.2% saw their customer base reach 2.7 million and 12.3 million respectively.
The Chairman of the Board of Directors of Zain, Mr Asaad Al Banwan stated that although consolidated revenues increased a moderate 2%, it gratifies the company that it attained an impressive 17% net income growth and EBIT and EBITDA growth of both 6% respectively. In addition, these results augur well, especially when one considers that the net profit for the half year was adversely affected by currency fluctuations of an amount of $ 75 million.
While Zain Group CEO Mr Nabeel Bin Salamah noted that Zain has emerged as the market leader in terms of customer numbers across five of its seven operations. He also stated that the telco is all set to concluding an outsourcing agreement with an unnamed vendor.
Terrorists attack phone network (Iraq)
Asiacell, the Iraqi mobile network operator stated that two of its towers in Al Rifai and Al Harmat were attacked by terrorists yet again in the last couple of days. The attack was conducted by a group of armed terrorists; eventually resulting in disruptions in communication that affected quite a number of regions.
The eventuality was reported at the earliest by Asiacell to the Nineveh’s headquarters, intelligence and security units. Military forces in Mosul were also informed subsequently. It is understood that the company requested protection for all of its towers and buildings spread throughout Irag.
According to Dr. DIar Ahmed, CEO of Asiacell, all efforts were immediately exerted by the company so as to restore services in the impacted areas. He however, assured that Asiacell will not be discouraged as a result of these acts of violence meted out by terrorists in honoring its commitment to continue serving the Iraqi people through the length and breadth of the nation with telecom services; the subscribers in Mosul in particular.
In an apparent separate event, badware-related activity was reported on Asiacell’s website by Google as of 25 June, 2011. Google displayed a warning in its search results when people looked to accessing Asiacell’s website.
Iraqi Telecom Operator Kalimat Plans to Invest $250 Million
Kalimat, majority owned by Kuwait’s royal family operating in six major Iraqi cities, has announced plans to provide mobile, fixed and data services throughout Iraq by November 2011.
According to a recent report from Reuters, Kalimat plans to invest $250 million in 2011, and launch an initial public offering (IPO) next year with the aim of tripling their current 300,000 subscriber base by the end of 2011.
With such ambitious plans, Kalimat recently confirmed their support as sponsor for the sixth Iraq Telecoms 2011 Conference at the Ritz Carlton, Istanbul happening between 25?27 October this year. Chief executive Wilson Varghese will be addressing the conference with insights around their wireless ICT infrastructure.
On confirming their support for the event, Wilson Varghese stated, “The planned IPO should help the company to expand as it eyes a nationwide rollout of services by the end of this year.”
Organisers confirmed that Iraq Telecoms will emphasize the growth and reconstruction opportunities within the Iraqi market as the country moves on with building its infrastructure with many major programmes planned.
Key industry support is already confirmed for the Iraq Telecoms conference; sponsors to date include: Asiacell, CDN, Zain, Scopesky, Nokia Siemens Network, Huawei, O3b, Arabsat, DragonWave, Korek, Kufan Group, Silkroad Group, Kalimat, Eutelsat, Technology Partners, PCCW Global, and Zhone. Representatives from many of the sponsors will be delivering further insight in their plans for expansion.
For further information visit: www.iraqtelecoms.com/
Asiacell offers SMS to Facebook service (Iraq)
Asiacell has launched the SMS to Facebook service, allowing prepaid and postpaid subscribers to stay connected to friends and family on Facebook using their mobile phones.
The service enables subscribers to update their Facebook page, send messages to friends, add new Facebook contacts, and receive updates.
In its upcoming phase, the service will allow subscribers to chat with Facebook friends, ‘like’ photos and post comments.
To subscribe to the ‘SMS to Facebook’ service, users must send ’1′ or ‘F’ to 1430, after which they will receive a welcoming message and code that must be entered into their Facebook account. The monthly subscription is US$2.14.
Asiacell Q1 revenues rise by 17% y-on-y (Iraq)
Asiacell has stated that its revenues increase 17% year-on-year to US$377.29 million in Q1.
EBITDA rose 14% to US$213.63 million, with EBITDA margin falling 1% to 57%. Revenue and EBITDA growth was driven by increased customer base and increased usage.
At the end of Q1, Asiacell had 8.306 million customers compared to 7.741 million in the year-earlier quarter. By the number of customers, its market share fell 4 percent year-on-year to 35 percent.
Blended ARPU fell to US$15.13 from US$15.37 in the previous quarter and rose compared to US$14.03 a year-ago. The operator continues its network expansion driven by market growth.
