Millicom to exit Asia totally by Q1 of 2010. Sells Laos share to Vimpelcom for $66 Million.
Millicom has agreed to sell its GSM business in Laos to Russia’s VimpelCom and has bidders lining up for its Sri Lankan operations, the sale of which will end Millicom’s activities in Asia. VimpelCom will pay about $66 million for Millicom’s 78 percent stake in Millicom Lao Co. Ltd.
Last month Millicom agreed to sell its 58.4 percent share in CamGSM, Royal Telecam International, and Cambodia Broadcasting to its Cambodian partner, The Royal Group, for $346 million in cash.
That leaves just Sri Lanka from Milicom’s Asian portfolio, and its operations there are also up for grabs. Millicom is the sole owner of Celltel Lanka (Pvt) Ltd. It was the first mobile operator in Sri Lanka. Mobitel and Tigo both claim to be the second largest. Dialog GSM is the country’s largest operator.
Indian State owned, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL), UAE’s Etisalat, Malaysia’s Axiata Group and India’s Bharti are also said to be bidding to acquire Tigo Lanka.
Axiata’s Dialog and Airtel already operate in Sri Lanka. Airtel winning the bid might sit better with the regulator since Axiata winning it would give Dialog an overwhelming position in the market.
Millicom expects to exit Asia Q1 of 2010. At the end of the first quarter, Millicom had a total of just over 4.5 million subscribers in Asia. Millicom’s Asian Revenues for 2008 are at $262 million with an EBDITA of $101.5 million. This is a year-on-year increases of 24.4 percent and 27.5 percent respectively.VimpelCom will pay approx $66 million for Millicom’s 78 percent stake in Millicom Lao Co. Ltd.
China Mobile looking for opportunities to tap emerging markets
As the dominant local company, China Mobile Communications Corp is seriously seeking opportunities to tap emerging markets worldwide, said the boss of the world’s top cellular carrier.
“If we finally make our mind up to go abroad, we will concentrate on emerging and developing markets, such as in
Asia
,
Africa
or
Latin America
,” said Wang Jianzhou, president of China Mobile.
He ruled out the possibility of squeezing into the packed European and North American markets, where the penetration rate of cellular phones is already high.
Wang refused to disclose more details of the plan, such as a timetable, which countries may be involved and who were potential partners.
In July China Mobile reportedly entered a failed bid for Luxembourg-based Millicom, which has networks in 16 emerging markets including
Latin America
and
Africa
. The company has never confirmed the bid.
According to Wang, however, China Mobile has never stopped weighing up the pros and cons of the international market. There have always been different views within the company on whether to expand overseas.
Those who oppose the potential expansion argue that it is risky and besides, vast rural areas of
China
remain untapped and offer great potential for further growth. Why bother to take risks abroad?
“The reason China Mobile should start forming such plans is to secure both present and future profitability opportunities,” said Wang.
Moreover, if China Mobile can enlarge its size and business scale, the firm can further cut operation costs, he added.
Wang said that as the world’s largest cellular operator by value, China Mobile is experienced in setting up infrastructures and providing wireless communication services for areas and regions with harsh natural conditions, another reason why the company would be comfortable tapping less developed markets and regions.
China Mobile Hong Kong acquired
Hong Kong
‘s fourth-largest mobile operator China Resources Peoples Telephone early this year, and has given mobile service access to some unmanned countryside parks and areas in the special administrative region, to meet demands from tourists.
Yang Yuanqing, chairman of the Lenovo Group, advised that Chinese companies’ international business expansion should be firmly backed by solid business growth in the domestic market. As
China
‘s top personal computer (PC) maker, Lenovo bought out IBM’s PC division two years ago.
China Mobile’s mobile subscribers totalled 274 million by the first half this year, with net profit reaching 30.17 billion yuan (US$3.78 billion).
The cellular carrier will further expand the capacity of its second-generation (2G) networks to cater for surging local demand. “Although the 3G era is coming, we are still attracting 4 million new 2G users per month. Therefore, we will continue expanding our 2G mobile capacity to develop the local market,” said Wang.
Source- http://english.people.com.cn
Technorati : Africa, China, China Mobile, Latin America, Luxembourg, Milicom
Ice Rocket : Africa, China, China Mobile, Latin America, Luxembourg, Milicom
