Etisalat considers outsourcing operations (UAE)
UAE’s leading telecom operator, Etisalat, is considering restructuring its operations or outsourcing, in an attempt to cut costs and improve revenues. According to reports, Ahmad Abdulkarim Julfar, chief executive officer, Etisalat group, has said that these suggestions aim to enable Etisalat to cope with the pace of development witnessed in the ICT sectors and face financial challenges that telecom providers across the world, including Etisalat, are facing.
He added that competition and drop in prices across the region has made it difficult for telecom service providers to maintain revenue levels, especially in emerging markets.
As per sources, Etisalat has reported declining profits in the past seven quarters, owing to reduced earnings from home operations as well as foreign units. Reports reveal that the decline in revenue from its home operations is due to stiff competition from rival du, along with increasing subscribers using free services such as Voice over IP (VoIP) services for international calls, and online chat in place of text messaging.
Bharti Airtel creating a new business model for Africa
Bharti Airtel is planning a new collaborative business entity in Africa. The World’s fifth largest mobile operator, already having pioneered Network Outsourcing as well as IT outsourcing, is attempting to try out a new idea which has not been tried elsewhere in the world, except in England, where also it is a 3G network deal.
The idea is to engage with Tier II operators where it has acquired Zain’s assets, and form a new company and share Radio Access Network (RAN) and realted cost burdens. The network will include base transceiver stations and base station controllers. There will be an arms length relationship between the radio access network company and its customers – the mobile operators including Airtel.
Bharti-Airtel is speaking to various companies at this stage to make this a reality. Significant capex savings can be achieved if all these Tier II operators were to come on-board. This move is directly aimed at achieving some leverage against MTN the market leader in some of these geographies.
Airtel has proven that it will do whatever it takes to make Africa a success and will not necessarily just replaicate it’s indian models but use innovation and leverage wherever possible.
Fibre network management to be outsourced by Bharti & BSNL (India)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Interested parties are invited by India’s Bharti Airtel to submit bids for the outsourcing of the management of its fibre-optic cable network with a view to completing a deal before the end of March 2010. State- owned telco Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) has also decided to invite bids in February to outsource the management of its network.
According to Bharti’s CEO Manoj Kohli, joint venture will be formed and the company contracted by Bharti will have a stake in the company. Bharti deal is estimated to be worth as much as USD1 billion over a five-year period. BSNL expects to close a deal by the end of the second half of this fiscal year.
Reliance Comm to bid for mobile licences abroad
The Reliance-Dhirubhai Anil Ambani Group, has plans to bid for mobile licences abroad for providing high-end business process outsourcing services, reports Business Standard.
It has lined up a raft of initiatives to give its telecommunications business a global footprint.
Moreover, the company also plans to take Internet protocol television (IPTV) and other media services to consumers in foreign markets after it launches them in
India
.
In order to carry these services, the group will set up three broadband cable networks- one from India to China through Nepal, two, an undersea cable between Asia and the US, and three, an extension of its Falcon cable from the Maldives to East Africa. Industry analysts put a USD 1 billion price tag to these three cable systems.
The group is also eyeing mobile licences in
Kenya
,
Bhutan
and
Morocco
.
Source- http://www.myiris.com
