Hutchison suggests partitioning Iraq
With sectarian violence ever worse in Iraq, U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison said Monday that more consideration should be given to dividing the country into semi-autonomous regions to help reduce conflicts.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a host of officials in the region and the United States oppose partition, but the Texas Republican said, “We ought to put it on the table as an option.”
Allowing the Kurds, Sunni and Shia to govern their own territories while sharing in Iraq’s oil revenues through a national revenue stream could help quell the bloodletting, Hutchison told the Houston Chronicle editorial board.
“We have to step back and stop trying to put our American ideas onto this problem and start trying to get an understanding of their views, and strong-held prejudices and biases and ethic preferences,” said Hutchison, who serves on the defense appropriations subcommittee.
Al-Maliki complains
Al-Maliki complained Monday to President Bush that talk of partition was undermining the Iraqi government, White House spokesman Tony Snow said.
Hutchison, who is up for re-election in November, drew a sharp contrast with one of her election opponents, Democrat Barbara Ann Radnofsky, who has called for a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. Without clear goals or an “exit strategy,” Radnofsky says, the war has made the world more dangerous and wasted billions of dollars.
“That is absolutely the wrong thing for America to do,” Hutchison said of setting a withdrawal deadline. She said terrorists would be emboldened to attack U.S. targets in such a case.
In subtle criticism of the Bush administration, however, Hutchison acknowledged the need for a “course correction” in Iraq, saying it “should have come earlier than this, perhaps.”
Arab silence ‘is deafening’
She expressed frustration that U.S. allies and friendly Arab governments haven’t done more to stabilize Iraq.
“It is time for the Arabs to step up to the plate,” she said. “There is a silence in the Arab world that I think is deafening.”
She declined to term Saudi Arabia or other U.S.-friendly Arab governments allies.
“My definition of ‘ally’ is a country that we can totally rely on,” she said.
“And I don’t think Saudi Arabia has totally kept its word in stopping the madrasa schools” that export fundamentalist Islamic teachings around the world.
Source- http://www.chron.com
Orascom keen to hike holding in Hutchison
The Egypt-based telecom service provider Orascom said that it was looking to increase its stake in Essar Hutchison by hiking its holding in Hong Kong-based Hutchison Telecom. Orascom said that it was interested in increasing its presence in the booming cellular market in the country through this route as its attempts to find a local partner had failed.
Speaking to Business Line, Mr Naguib Sawiris, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Orascom, said, “We are interested very much in the Indian market and we are hoping to increase our stake in Hutchison. We had tried in the past to invest in India through a local partner but we found it difficult.”
Orascom currently holds about 9 per cent in the Indian cellular venture Hutchison Essar after it had acquired nearly 19 per cent in Hutchison Telecom. Orascom’s indirect entry into the Indian telecom market was earlier raked up by the Essar Group, which had pointed out that its consent had not been taken before the international deal between Orascom and Hutchison took place.
Essar had said that such international deals could bring in investments from companies in unfriendly countries. Some of the security agencies had also expressed concerns with investment. The Government has, however, given its approval to the investment, which paves the way for Orascom to further increase its stake. Foreign Direct Investment level in Hutchison Essar is currently at 68 per cent.
Speaking at the 3GSM World Congress Asia, Mr Sawiris said that Orascom was not lucky enough to find a partner in India unlike TM (formerly Telekom Malaysia) and Sing Tel who have partnered with Spice and Bharti respectively. ‘We decided to invest in Hutchison Telecom because it has operations in countries such as India and Vietnam where we had failed to make an entry due to local circumstances. We are hoping that Hutchison would agree to gives us more equity in the company.’
No 3G votary
Orascom offers telecom services in Pakistan, Italy, Algeria, Bangladesh, Iraq, Tunisia, Bangladesh and Egypt. It had 17 million subscribers as on March 2006.
On the technology front, Mr Sawaris said that he was not a great fan of 3G technology and it may be prudent to delay the launch and wait for the right price points before offering it to consumers.
When asked about the advantages of acquiring equity stakes in emerging telecom markets, Mr Sawaris said that there was not much opportunity with greenfield projects and therefore acquisitions made more sense.
Bullish on India
TM (formerly known as Telecom Malaysia) said that it was expanding its operations in India with its partner Spice Telecom by acquiring licences for more circles. Mr Dato’ Abdul Wahid Omar, the company’s Group Chief Executive Officer, told Business Line that the company was hoping to move from being a two circle operator in India to having pan-India services. Mr Wahid Omar said that Indonesia and India were its key investments as the markets in these countries were growing at a rapid pace.
Mr Lee Hsien Yang, CEO SingTel Group, said the growth from Bharti Airtel was contributing significantly to its international operations. ‘Bharti is adding close to a milion subscribers a month compared to 20,000 being added in Singapore in a quarter.’
Source- http://www.moneycontrol.com
Orascom says wants to buy Hutchison phone unit
SINGAPORE, Oct 16 (Reuters) – Egypt’s Orascom Telecom (ORTE.CA: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Monday it wants to buy Hutchison Whampoa’s (0013.HK: Quote, Profile, Research) emerging markets phone unit, or at least take a controlling stake in the firm.
Orascom bought a 19.3 percent stake in Hutchison Telecommunications International Ltd. (2332.HK: Quote, Profile, Research)(HTX.N: Quote, Profile, Research) for $1.3 billion last December, obtaining exposure to Asian markets.
It now wants to take over the phone unit, or at least own a controlling stake in it.
“We are in constant talks on the price, to come to a price that is fair to both parties,” Naguib Sawiris, chairman of Egypt-based Orascom Telecom (ORTE.CA: Quote, Profile, Research)(ORTEq.L: Quote, Profile, Research), told Reuters on the sidelines of a telecommunications conference in Singapore.
When asked what share he wanted to purchase, Sawiris said: “All of it,” adding “We want to at least get to a controlling stake.”
He declined to provide a timeline or the premium that he would be willing to pay for the shares.
Orascom has mobile phone subsidiaries in the Middle East, Africa and Pakistan.
It operates GSM networks in Algeria, Pakistan, Egypt, Tunisia, Iraq, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, and is traded on the Egyptian bourse and on the London Stock Exchange. The firm’s subscribers exceeded 30 million by the end of 2005.
Source- http://today.reuters.com
Wataniya Telecom reinforces Ericsson/Nokia partnerships
KUWAIT: Wataniya Telecom, Kuwait Red Carpet Co announced yesterday that its customers will have wider access to its advanced broadband networks through the expansion of the deployment phase, all over Kuwait, of HSDPA functionality empowered by its leading partners, Ericsson and Nokia. This will secure higher speed audio and video streaming and the usage of sophisticated applications over the Wataniya network.
“Our customers are driving the evolution of our networks, demanding more advanced services”, said Harri Koponen, GM & CEO, Wataniya Telecom. “There’s a growing demand for mobile data services in Kuwait, so in order to serve our customers better we decided to expand our existing HSDPA network and extend the Red Carpet services to new areas”.
Under the agreement both Ericsson and Nokia will provide radio equipment and implementation services for the mobile internet (HSDPA) enabling Wataniya to introduce a new generation of mobile broadband services including high speed internet access.
Per Uppstorm, President, Ericsson Kuwait says: “Wataniya makes a very strong statement on the Kuwaiti market at a very exciting time in telecommunications history. HSDPA deployments are taking off around the world, and we are extremely pleased to power Wataniya’s HSDPA network”.
Approximately few months after the first deployment of HSDPA which has provided remarkable speed in audio and video streaming additional to internet access via W-net, the Wataniya internet card, Wataniya follows swiftly with a sizable expansion aiming at providing customers with unique experience of high speed downloads virtually from everywhere in Kuwait.
“Nokia’s simple HSDPA software upgrade enables Wataniya to offer their customers mobile broadband services cost-efficiently. We are committed to supporting Wataniya in introducing new services in Kuwait and providing them with Nokia’s end-to-end expertise ranging from network equipment and services to devices”, said Walid Moneimne, Senior Vice President, Networks, Nokia.
Wataniya customers will start reap up from the expansion of this remarkable solution soon through a rich portfolio of unprecedented services based on seamless speed level.
“Customer satisfaction is priority for us”, said Koponen. “We had made a commitment to deliver the latest technologies needed to deliver latest services. With both Ericsson’s and Nokia solutions in place, we’ll be able to consistently roll out services of the highest calibre to our customers, most suited to their requirements”.
About Wataniya Telecom
Launched in December 1999, Wataniya Telecom is positioned today the leading provider of mobile services in Kuwait and has been a driving force in increasing the mobile communications market penetration to over 90% percent of the population.
With operations in Algeria, Tunisia, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Palestine and Maldives, Wataniya is actively expanding its presence within the region as well in Asia, serving over 6.3 million customers, in countries counted over 92 millions citizens in total.
The Company provides a wide range of leading EDGE wireless voice and data services delivered with high quality and designed to meet customer’s needs and requirements.
Source- http://www.kuwaittimes.net
MTC expects to double profit to record KD375m
KUWAIT: Mobile Telecommunications Company, the third-largest Gulf Arab telecom company by market value, expects to double profit this year to a record KD 375 million . “We will achieve record profits that will surpass the profits for 2002 five-fold,” Saad Al-Barrak, the Kuwaiti company’s chief executive, said at a company event late on Sunday. MTC earned KD 75.04 million in 2002 and KD 185.9 million last year, according to Reuters data. Arab telecoms companies, buoyed by record earnings and oil revenues generated by their government shareholders, have been on a spending spree in the last 18 months, buying companies from Pakistan and Italy to Africa.
MTC, which is 24.42 per cent owned by the government of Kuwait, last year bought Netherlands-based Celtel with operations in Africa for $3.36 billion.
Al-Barrak said 2006 revenue at MTC, which has 25 million subscribers in 20 nations in the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa, will be about $4.5 billion. That compares with KD 579.5 million ($2 billion) last year.
“MTC is now the fourth largest (telecom) company based on geographical coverage,” Al-Barrak said at the event.
The company plans to more than double subscriber numbers to 50 million within five years, possibly expanding operations into Asia and eastern Europe, Al-Barrak told the Kuwait News Agency last month. The agency did not give details.
MTC, whose remaining shares are traded on the Kuwaiti stock exchange, may post an average 87.3 percent increase in third-quarter net profit, three analysts said in a Reuters earnings survey last month. See [nL30893867] for more details on the forecast.
Net income may rise to an average KD 87.08 million in the three months to Sept 30, compared with KD46.69 million in the year earlier period, according to the forecast.
MTC operates in Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon, and about 15 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. – Reuters
Source- http://www.kuwaittimes.net
Arab mobile provider, Nokia launches Sudan operations
Oct 5, 2006 (DUBAI) — i2, the largest and most diverse mobile provider in Africa and the Middle East announced today in a press briefing the launch of its operations in Sudan.
i2 introduces its retail concept and after sales services for the first time in the country.
i2 is the first authorized Nokia distributor and service center in the country as well as being the first to offer mobile subscribers original Nokia devices with matching accessories and a one-year warranty. In Sudan, i2 will be available through its showroom, distribution network and service center.
i2′s operation in Sudan will be managed by Mohamed Osman El Tayyeb, Chairman, and Hussein Raouf Atwi, General Manager.
i2 plans to expand its operation throughout Sudan within the year to include Bahri, Omdurman and Kalaka. i2 has opened a branch in the state of Adbara and plans to expand to Madani and Port Sudan.
Nokia has long recognized Africa as an important market for the company’s business. Since early 1990, Nokia has provided mobile phones, enhancement, telecoms networks and related infrastructure and services to operators and customers throughout Africa.
‘Nokia’s approach is to develop and support all local distributors and service partners in all countries. Nokia has been working closely with our regional distributor, i2 across most countries in the Middle East and Africa for many years now.
i2 will be able to offer Nokia’s customers authentic Nokia handsets and official Nokia Customer Care Services to ensure that customers in Sudan receive the best possible Nokia experience.” Said Jarmo Santala, General Manager for Nokia Customer and Market Operations North West Africa.
The cost effectiveness of GSM-based services in comparison to fixed-lines has encouraged the fast growth of mobile services in Africa. Nevertheless, mobile penetration levels in Africa remain low.
‘i2 has a big role to play in the development of the mobile market in Africa. We want to make sure that it’s growing market follows international standards of product quality and service’ stated Abdul Hameed Al Sunaid, President and CEO, i2.
Founded in 1993 in Saudi Arabia as Itsalat International, i2 is the region’s largest and most diverse mobile phone provider in the region. i2 operates in: Bahrain, Chad, Egypt, Ghana, Iran, Iraq, Ivory Coast, KSA, Kuwait, Lebanon, Mauritius, Morocco, Reunion, Senegal, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, UAE and UK.
Source- http://www.sudantribune.com
FASTTAKES: Nokia, Globe, Cognos, Orascom
Nokia signs a deal with Globe Telecom to provide the Philippine carrier with its latest circuit switched core network equipment. Under the deal, Nokia will renew the core network of Globe including the upgrade of Nokia mobile switching center.
Software maker Cognos plans to introduce software for mobile devices, particularly for the popular BlackBerry device. The company said it will ‘unplug’ its desktop software and make it mobile in early 2007.
Egypt’s Orascom Telecom reports that it has secured an extension of its GSM operation in Iraq, under the trade name Iraqna. The carrier said it has been granted a further three month extension to its current interim license to end in December.
Source- http://www.telecomasia.net
Technorati : Globe Telecom, Mobile, Nokia, Orascom, Telecom
Ice Rocket : Globe Telecom, Mobile, Nokia, Orascom, Telecom
Iraq invites bidders for mobile phone licenses
Iraq will be offering new tenders for licenses to operate mobile phones in the country after the existing licenses expire, an Associated Press report said.Three companies currently operate in Iraq: Iraqna, AsiaCell, and Atheer.
The report quoted Ali al-Dabbagh, spokesman for Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, as saying that a committee had been formed to review the bids.
It was not clear, however, when the tender would be offered.
Iraqi officials had not specified how much the new contracts would be worth, or given details on the exact timing of the tender announcement, the report said.
Iraqna, a subsidiary of the Egyptian firm Orascom Telecommunications, a major regional communications company, mainly operates in central Iraq and has 2.5 million active subscribers.
Its contract would expire September 30, and the company confirmed it was interested in bidding for the tender, the report said.
Atheer, the Iraqi unit of Kuwait’s Mobile Telecommunications, operates in southern Iraq and AsiaCell operates in the country’s northern part.
Officials at both companies could not be reached to provide details of when their contracts would expire, the report said.
Iraqna was first awarded the license to operate in Iraq in October 2003 after the fall of Saddam Hussein, and its commercial launch in December of that year marked the first time mobile phones were used in Baghdad, the report said.
Source- http://www.americasnetwork.com
Technorati : AsiaCell, Atheer, Iraq, Iraqna, Mobile
Ice Rocket : AsiaCell, Atheer, Iraq, Iraqna, Mobile
Orascom revenue up 36 percent as subscribers nearly double
Orascom Telecom Holdings reported revenues up 36 percent to USD 2.06 billion in the first half, compared with USD 1.51 billion in the year-earlier period. The growth is mainly due to a 93 percent increase in subscribers to 35.32 million at the end of June from 21.21 million a year earlier. The group’s GSM revenue increased to USD 1.85 billion from USD 1.32 billion, the remainder coming from other telecom and internet services. Orascom’s Algerian mobile subsidiary Djezzy accounted for 35 percent of sales, followed by Mobilink Pakistan with 24 percent, Iraqna with 13 percent and Mobinil with 10 percent. Group EBITDA grew to USD 918.66 million from USD 653.08 million, and net profit increased to USD 331.14 million from USD 295.29 million.
Source- http://www.telecompaper.com
