VimpelCom, Weather plan for deal even without Djezzy
If sources are to be believed, VimpelCom Ltd.’s shareholders and Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris have an agreement to cement a merger even if Algeria nationalizes the local unit of Sawiris’s Orascom Telecom Holding without paying Orascom a cent.
According to the sources, the Russian, Norwegian, Egyptian and the other major shareholders went into the telecom deal with their eyes wide open about the risks of nationalization in Algeria, and they agreed to a plan B, committing them to work toward a merger even without Algerian unit Djezzy.
As per reports citing Orascom Telecom Chief Executive Khaled Bishara, they are still working on the deal and Algeria probably won’t be the deciding factor for selling Sawiris’ approximately 50% stake in Orascom to VimpelCom.
According to VimpelCom spokeswoman Elena Prokhorova, VimpelCom is continuing to work on the deal, including getting the required regulatory permissions, and also on the situation in Algeria. Still, Sawiris recently indicated the deal has a 50% chance at best of being finalized. VimpelCom major shareholder Telenor ASA has also expressed concerns about the problems in Algeria.
SSTL expects USD800m investment from Russian Federation
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: An investment of as much as USD800 million has been expected by Sistema Shyam Teleservices (SSTL) operating under the MTS India banner from the Russian Federation as part of proposals that will see the cellco divest a 20% stake to the latter.
Most of the funding will be utilized in the expansion of its coverage area along with the inauguration of services in the eleven circles which it holds licenses for but does not yet operate in. The proposals have been given clearance by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) while a due diligence is already underway by the Russian government.
According to SSTL’s deputy CEO T. Narasimhan, the company has invested USD1.5 billion in rolling out its services in eleven circles and further plans to infuse USD1 billion in expanding its network to another eleven circles.
ROK launches KOX TV in Russia
The UK-based mobile technologies applications and services company, ROK Entertainment Group and KOX TV, the Russian-based mobile TV service company announced the launch of a carrier-agonistic streamed mobile TV service in Russia.
The target group of the service includes those customers of Russian operators Beeline, MTS, Megafone and Tele 2, who have a data package included in their mobile tariff. Priced at 247 Rubles per month, KOT TV comprises of 12 looped and on-demand TV channels. It also offers free of cost viewing for two weeks.
According to the ROK Chairman, Jonathan Kendrick, the company is delighted launch the first ever such service in Russia, which has been done in response to their expectation of significant demand for live and on-demand mass-market Mobile TV in that country, from the ever-growing number of people with compatible handsets and a data package included in their mobile tariff.
Lomo LC-A+ Gold camera debuts in a limited edition
Lomo has unveiled a limited edition (130 units) of the LC-A+ Gold camera that comes clad in 24K gold-leaf gilding and finest brown leather wrapping.
Priced at $600, the Lomo gold edition features an original Russian Minitar lens, wooden casing, a unique number and certification sheet guaranteeing its authenticity, two rolls of Lomography 800 Film in a golden tin and the ‘Lomographiere’ hardcover book.
Ukrainian mobile content market worth 30 million
Kiev, August 18, PRIME-TASS. According to a study carried out by ComNews Research, Ukraine’s content services market volume stood at around 30 million dollars in the first six months of 2006, excluding indirect gains from mobile marketing and content sold independently of mobile operators.
Analysts state that the five leading content providers control 48 percent of the market. Jump Ukraine holds the top position for the first half of 2006 with 17%, while the daughter company of Russian provider Inform-mobile comes in second with 12%. The Ukrainian branch of the Russian company Solvo International takes 8%, and Ukrainian content providers Point Com and Dnepr Telecom have 7 and 4 percent respectively.
The success of the top five is mostly attributable to their participation in projects to provide content under mobile operator’s brands or sub brands: Kievstar, Djuice, JEANS, UMC and Beeline.
The Ukrainian daughter companies of Russian market leaders i-Free, Infon and Logoton were in the next five, along with UPT-Mobile and Mobiline Media. Their appearance in the rating highlight trends in the development of the Ukrainian mobile content market. UPT-Mobile specialises in WAP projects and partners with the majority of popular Russian WAP sites. The content provider Mobiline Media is an offspring of ’1+1′, one of Ukraine’s largest TV channels.
ComNews Research analysts predict that providers specialising in WAP projects will see a long-term growth in market share. They also foresee the migration of successful content projects to WAP, conditional to operators opening WAP-CPA. Media projects will also enjoy an increased share, although they are overly tied to competing media such as television and printed publishing, whose ratings are difficult to predict.
The analysts consider the Ukrainian content services market attractive for investment, and expect to find such major Western players as Jamba and Jet Multimedia entering the market in the near future.
Source- http://world.procontent.ru
Technorati : Beeline, Djuice, Dnepr Telecom, JEANS, Kievstar, Mobile, Point Com, Russia, Solvo International, Ukraine
Ice Rocket : Beeline, Djuice, JEANS, Kievstar, Mobile, Russia, Solvo International, Ukraine
