Bangladeshi mobile market grows despite slow ’09
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: With an annual rise of 17 percent, 7.79 million subscribers were added by six mobile phone companies in Bangladesh. However, this has been the lowest growth rate since 2005. The lower growth rate has been attributed to the operators’ reluctance to offer attractive packages to woo new customers because of a higher SIM.
It has been expected that by offering lucrative packages and by putting pressure on profit margins and revenues, an increase from 52.4 million users at the end of 2009 to 70 million by 2011 can be achieved.
The subscriber base of Grameenphone, majority owned by Norway’s Telenor is raised by 11 percent, or 2.27 million, to 23.26 million. Egyptian Orascom Telecom’s Banglalink added 3.54 million and third-ranked Aktel added 1.09 million. Warid Telecom, Bangladesh’s fourth-biggest telecom also attracted 66,000 customers to reach 2.99 million in 2009.
Egyptian court’s verdict against France Telecom
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: With the blocking of France Telecom’s offer for minority stakes in the Egyptian mobile operator by Egyptian court, all hopes of the operator to take full control of ECMS were dashed. The decision was taken after the price of €1.5bn offered by France’s group to for outstanding stakes in ECMS, due to expire on Thursday was considered to be too low.
The decision is pronounced as victory of Orascom Telecom, locked in a lengthy battle with the former French monopoly for control of Egypt’s largest mobile company. The ownership and strategy of France Telecom, the largest mobile operator in the Middle East by subscribers will also loom in uncertainty because of the decision.
ECMS is controlled via Mobinil by France Telecom and Orascom in which France Telecom owns 71.25%, Orascom 28.75% and Mobinil owns 51%. The two owners have been at loggerheads for years over a strategy for the Egyptian operator.
Verdict on MobiNil share decision to be issued this week
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: A verdict will be issued by an Egyptian court to stop the sale of any outstanding shares by Orascom Telecom in network operator MobiNil to France Telecom. It was after the rejection of three offers that the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority accepted the French company offer in early December at EGP245 (USD44.87) per share.
By appealing to the committee, Orascom tried to block the sale but its request was rejected last week. According to Orascom, FT should have offered EGP273 per share, equivalent to a price set by an arbitration court last April for the MobiNil shares Orascom held through a holding company.
Meanwhile, MobiNil has fallen behind its EGP750 million installment for its 3G license which was due on 1 January. This may result into financial penalty for MobiNil and at the same time it is believed that the operator may ask the regulator to exempt it from any possible charge as a result of the current ownership dispute.
Bonds worth around EGP1.5 billion is to be sold by MobiNil in an offer which closes on 24 January, and a portion of the proceeds raised by this sale are expected to go towards its overdue license fee.
Bangladesh to auction 3G license in 2010
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: In a bid to invite billions of dollars of investment, 3G auction will be organized by Bangladesh’s telecom regulator this year. A number of top telecom companies have already indicated their interest in the four slots of bandwidth that will be sold off at open auction by the end of 2010.
According to Zia Ahmed, head of Bangladesh Telecommunications and Regulatory Commission, BTRC would open up its international telecommunications gateway to the private sector, which would for the first time allow operators to lay underwater cables and connect terrestrial lines with India.
The announcement has come after Bharti Airtel’s deal while U.K. mobile phone giant Vodafone had approached the commission for a 3G license. Last year, Japan’s NTT DoCoMo Inc bought a 30% stake in operator AKTEL.
In 2005, Singtel bought a 45% stake in Bangladesh Telecom and in 2004, Egyptian Orascom took over Sheba. However, lack of infrastructure investment has slowed down the growth in Bangladesh’s mobile market thus inviting the moves to attract investment for 2010.
Airtel- Warid deal receive regulatory nod
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: By receiving the regulatory approval to pay $300 million for a 70% stake in Bangladesh’s fourth-largest cellco Warid Telecom via a new share issue, Bharti Airtel has strengthened its Asian asset portfolio.
If the move is successful, Indian mobile behemoth can compete with global magnates Telenor, Axiata and Orascom Telecom in Bangladesh. The moves have become imperative for Bharti in order to help prop up its profits from the low ARPU, highly competitive Indian market. Kuwait’s Zain Telecom and Sweden’s Millicom International Cellular are also on its target.
Late last year, South African government’s disapproval led to the failure of the Airtel’s deal to merge with South African giant MTN. However, for Bangladeshi investment, Airtel have big plans hoping the investment to surpass a total of $1 billion in the next few years.
Appeal to buy Ezypt’s Mobinil lost by Orascom Telecom
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Orascom Telecom’s appeal against the ruling that could allow France Telecom subsidiary to buy up Egypt’s biggest mobile services provider has been turned down by an Egyptian regulator.
According to the Egyptian Financial Services Authority, it upheld Orange Participations offer to buy up OT’s shares for 245 Egyptian pounds ($45.40) per share in the Egyptian Company for Mobile Services.
An arbitration court ruling in March in favor of the French company is said to be the reason behind the dispute. The French company holds 71.25 percent stake in Mobinil and it has been authorized by the court to acquire Orascom’s 28.75 percent stake in Mobinil.
Bangladesh operator to be bought by Indian telco Bharti Airtel
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Bangladesh’s fourth largest mobile phone operator Warid is set to sell 70% stake in its company from its Abu Dhabi-based owners and regulators to one of the India’s leading telco Bharti Airtel. An approval
from the Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission for the sale has been sought by the Dhabi Group, which fully owns Warid.
With the latest move, Airtel becomes the largest foreign operator to make inroads into Bangladesh mobile phone market. According to BTRC chairman Zia Ahmed, Bharti initially intended to invest 300 million dollars.
Warid was launched in 2007 and had three million subscribers at the end of October. The subscription is predicted to cross 100 million marks by 2015 by the industry experts.
Last year Japan’s NTT DoCoMo Inc bought 30 percent stake in operator AKTEL. Earlier, in the year 2004, Egyptian Orascom took over Sheba and in 2005 Singapore based Singtel bought 45 percent stake in Bangladesh Telecom.
Canada govt allows Wind telecom to start operations; overturns regulator’s decision
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Communications regulator CRTC’s decision has been overturned by the Canadian Government which has allowed Ezyptian based mobile newcomer Globalive Wireless Management, backed by Orascom
telecom, to launch its services in Canada.
Globalive, which operates under the name Wind Mobile, acquired spectrum rights for CDN 442 million in August 2008. At present, the company has built most of its network and would launch service in Toronto and Calgary this month.
CRTC announced in October that the company was operating against telecom law requiring a minimum level of Canadian ownership. Orascom owns slightly more than 65 percent of the equity in Globalive and nearly all of its debt, which the regulator felt gave the foreign investors too much control over the company’s daily operations.
While overturning the CRTC’s decision, Industry Canada, the government ministry said that 80 percent of Globalive’s voting shares are held by Canadians. Besides, the company is based in Toronto and should be considered Canadian and allowed to start services in order to stimulate competition on the mobile market.
The decision has been welcomed by Wind but rival mobile operator Telus which said that this will give an “unique advantage†to Wind, after other companies were told they could not bid with foreign investors in the spectrum auction.
North Korea riding high on mobile communication
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Communist country North Korea, known for its human rights abuses and for tight controls on outside information, is riding high on mobile communications with the mobile telephone subscriptions due to reach 120,000 early next year. The mobile service was started in the country just a year ago by an Egyptian provider.
According to the marketing manager of the joint venture called Koryolink with Egypt’s Orascom, with the set up a 3G mobile network, the success is bigger than what was expected.
The mobile phone service in North Korea began in November 2002, but shut down after 18 months and the handsets were recalled.
According to the official media of North Korea, the telecom network has expanded nationwide and the fiber-optic cables has been laid from the capital to all provinces and the broadcasting sector has been renovated. A company manager, whose name wasn’t given, said that mobile use was not only spreading among the political and business elite, but even citizens are availing the facility in the capital city, Pyongyang.
Industry Leaders To Gather at 3GSM World Congress Asia 2006
ASIA : The 3GSM World Congress Asia – the fastest growing mobile communications event in the region – will bring together a host of industry leaders and personalities from across Asia’s booming mobile industry.
The mobile operator CEOs speaking at the 2006 event, which will be held in Singapore between October 16th and October 20th, include Sunil Mittal from Bharti Televentures, Dr Young-Chu Cho from KTF, Naguib Sawiris from Orascom, Lee Hsien Yang from SingTel Group, Dato Abdul Wahid Omar from Telekom Malaysia, Arve Johansen from Telenor, Sol Trujillo from Telstra and Alexander Izosimov from VimpelCom. Produced by the GSM Association (GSMA), the global trade association for the mobile industry, the 3GSM World Congress Asia will also feature top executives from other mobile-related industries, such as Alejandro Zubillaga, Executive Vice President Digital Strategy and Business Development at Warner Music Group, and Dr Sachio Semmoto, Founder and CEO of eAccess.
“For this year’s 3GSM Congress in Asia, we have assembled a top-class, yet diverse, line-up of speakers that will pinpoint the key trends in the region’s dynamic and complex market for mobile communications,” said Bill Gajda, the chief marketing officer of the GSM Association. “The Congress is the only event in Asia to attract the top ranking executives from the region’s operator community.”
The Congress presentations, revolving around the central theme of ‘Risk and Reward’, will cover topics ranging from new business models for mobile operators, to the role of China, universal access in emerging markets, the mobile boom in India, mobile virtual network operators and infotainment and content. The 2006 event will also host the GSMA Members Forum – the only annual meeting open to the entire GSMA membership.
This year’s Congress also sees the introduction of the GSMA’s “Asia Mobile Innovation Awards.” These awards are designed to support innovation in the Asian mobile industry by bringing together start-up companies, industry investors, mobile operators and vendors
Source- http://www.3g.co.uk
Technorati : 3 GSM, Asia, Bharti Televentures, China, KTF, Orascom, Singtel, Telekom Malaysia, Telenor, Telestra, Warner Music Group, eAccess, operator
Ice Rocket : 3 GSM, Asia, Bharti Televentures, China, KTF, Orascom, Singtel, Telekom Malaysia, Telenor, Telestra, eAccess, operator
