Wataniya Palestine aims to raise $50 million by IPO
Palestine’s Wataniya Mobile has announced its plans to sell 15% of its share via an IPO, raising US$50.3 million in the process.
According to the company, the offer period for shares will take place between 7 November and 2 December, and will be followed by a listing on the Palestine stock exchange.
Wataniya is Palestine’s second mobile operator, having launched services in competition with Jawwal, part of incumbent operator Paltel, in November 2009. As of the end of September, the company had 302,404 subscribers, up from 110,835 at the start of the year, which it claims equates to a market share of 19% in the West Bank.
As per the company, the telco is licensed to provide mobile services in both the West Bank and Gaza, and it plans to expand its network to the latter as soon as is practicable. To date, the political situation in the region has made such a move impossible.
According to Bassam Hannoun, CEO of Wataniya Mobile, the company feels they have a very exciting time ahead, and look forward to welcoming new investors to join them as they continue to grow their community of customers in Palestine.
Palestine Network inks an Expansion Contract with Ericsson
Palestinian mobile network, Jawwal has signed a US$15 million network expansion contract with Ericsson.
According to Kamal Tartor, director of engineering, Jawwal, the company is continuously seeking to improve and update its network to better serve its customers. It also seeks to increase the quality and number of services provided, and the 10th phase implementation in cooperation with Ericson will allow more customers to join its network.
As per the agreement the contract will help in improving the network and its coverage, and that the crew is working hard to make the network even stronger, and already expanded the internet network.
Mr. Hekmat Daqqa, CEO of Ericson Company in Palestine has harmonized the strategic relations between the two companies, where Ericson is the largest heavy equipment provider for many telecommunication companies in the Arab countries and the world. Thus, this will support the advancement of its infrastructure.
Multiple mobile subscriptions popular in Saudi Arabia
A recent survey of Saudi mobile users has found that almost 40% have more than one cellular subscription. The main reason behind the popularity of second lines is that customers are keeping separate mobile connections for business and private use, although 22.8% of those that do have multiple subscriptions said that they had a second line to take advantage of cost savings available from different networks. ‘The survey revealed a substantial overlap of subscribers in the market between STC (Al Jawwal) and Mobily networks,’ said Jawad Abbassi, general manager at Arab Advisors Group. ‘This trend seems to stem from the ongoing promotions in the Saudi Market that include free credit, no connection fees and lengthy validity periods for pre-paid numbers,’ he added. The Saudi mobile market is currently a duopoly between STC and Mobily, although a third concession is due to be awarded in 2007. Egypt’s Orascom is among the firms expected to bid for the new licence.
Source- telegeography Wireless Mobile Telecom
