Mobilkom Austria Buys Serbia License
Mobilkom Austria AG said Tuesday it will pay 320 million euros ($406 million) for a mobile phone license in Serbia, becoming the third service provider in the Balkan country.
Mobilkom Austria AG was the only company that expressed interest in joining the market of about 4 million subscribers, currently shared by the state-run Telekom Serbia and Telenor ASA of Norway.
Serbia’s Telecommunication Agency said the 10-year, renewable license will be issued by the end of the month, following payment.
In July, Telenor ASA outbid Mobilkom Austria AG in the race to buy Mobi63, Serbia’s oldest mobile phone company that had become mired in ownership and management disputes. Telenor ASA won that auction by paying 1.5 billion euros ($1.9 billion) for Mobi63.
Source- biz.yahoo Wireless Mobile Telecom
Telekom Austria’s Mobilkom wins Serbian licence
Telekom Austria has announced that its wholly owned wireless subsidiary Mobilkom has won the tender for the third mobile licence in Serbia. The company was the sole contender for the combined GSM/UMTS licence, for which it will pay the Serbian Regulatory Authority its asking price of EUR320 million (USD408 million); the Serbian government is expecting full payment to be made this year. Boris Nemsic, CEO of the Telekom Austria Group, was reported as saying that while the licence price was relatively high, he expected the Serbian business to be profitable within three years of launch, by which stage CAPEX investment in the network is set to reach EUR250 million. The terms of the licence stipulate that Mobilkom must launch services within six months and provide coverage to 20% of the population within a year. The network must be extended to cover 50% within two years and 80% within four.
The latest licence acquisition reflects a continuation of Telekom Austria’s strategy to develop mobile markets in south-eastern Europe. The company has already launched services in Croatia and Bulgaria but earlier this year was thwarted in its bid for a mobile licence in neighbouring Slovakia. In August this year its bid to acquire Serbian cellco Mobi063 was also unsuccessful when Telenor outbid it with an offer of EUR1.51 billion.
Source- telegeography Wireless Mobile Telecom
Mobilkom wins Serbian mobile licence
Mobilkom Austria was awarded the third licence to operate mobile telephony services in Serbia, after submitting the sole bid, worth EUR 320 million. Boris Nemsic, CEO of Mobilkom’s parent company Telekom Austria, said that while the licence price is relatively high, the overall operating price is reasonable, adding that his company views the Serbian market as underdeveloped and possessing great potential. It aims for its Serbian business to be profitable on an operating basis within three years of the launch. The buyer of the licence is contractually obliged to be fully operational within six months of receiving the licence and cover 20 percent of the population and three major highways within 12 months. The licence includes both GSM and UMTS frequencies and is valid for ten years.Mobilkom already tried to enter the Serbian market earlier this year via the auction for operator Mobi 63, but lost out to Telenor. The company however has already researched the Serbian market and laid the groundwork for an immediate start to setting up operations. Telekom Austria expects to spend EUR 250 million by 2009 for rolling out the Serbian network, and said it sees no effect on its debt targets or dividend policy as a result of the extra investment.
Source- telecompaper Wireless Mobile Telecom
Serbia to publicly launch tender for third mobile operator on Nov
Austrian Mobilkom, which lost to Norway’s Telenor in the race for Mobi 63, is the only company to have requested the tender documentation by the deadline.
The tender was announced on September 19, with a minimum starting price of 320 mln eur.
Serbia’s Telecommunications Agency will announce the bidders’ names on November 6, with the final decision expected by November 15.
newsdesk@afxnews.com wj COPYRIGHT Copyright AFX News Limited 2006. All rights reserved.
The copying, republication or redistribution of AFX News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of AFX News.
AFX News and AFX Financial News Logo are registered trademarks of AFX News Limited For more information and to contact AFX: www.afxnews.com and www.afxpress.com
Source- sharewatch Wireless Mobile Telecom
Serbia looks for third mobile operator
BELGRADE — The Republic Telecommunications Agency has announced a public competition for another mobile phone operator in Serbia.
So far, the only buying of tender documentation in the allotted amount of time was done by Austrian company Mobikom, who already participated in the auction for the Mobi 63 company, but lost to Norway’s Telenor.
The competition for the third licensed operator was announced on September 19 with the starting price of 320 million euros.
Operators who have more than three million mobile service customers and whose income at the end of last year was more than 500 million euros, can participate in the tender for becoming Serbia’s third operator, next to Telekom Srbija and Telenor.
The license for the third mobile operator in Serbia is given out for a period of ten years and once the ten years pass, the contract is extended for another ten automatically.
According to the regulations of the public tender, the names of all interested bidders will be announced on November 6 and the final decision on the best offer is scheduled to be made on November 15.
Telekom Srpske bid deadline extended for a second time
The privatisation committee of Bosnia & Herzegovina’s autonomous Republika Srpska (RS) has extended the deadline for bids for the region’s incumbent operator Telekom Srpske for a second time, from 3 November to 20 November; the original date was 4 October. The extra time has been requested by the bidders, according to the RS President Milorad Dodik. Eleven international companies have shown an interest in the sale of a 65% stake in Telekom, according to Reuters. Tender documents for the privatisation have reportedly been purchased by Telekom Serbia, Mobilkom Austria, Magyar Telekom of Hungary and Russia’s Sistema Telecom. Further interest has come from Elisa Communications of Finland, Iceland’s Matav Madarska Novator, Telenor of Norway, Valiva of Switzerland and Planetsky of Cyprus, all of which have signed a confidentiality statement showing interest in the purchase of the documents. The minimum starting price for bidding has been set at EUR400 million (USD640 million).
Source- telegeography Wireless Mobile Telecom
Telenor Profits Jump 72 Percent in 3Q
Norwegian telecommunications group Telenor ASA on Thursday reported a 72 percent increase net profits for the third quarter, citing strong growth in the mobile phone sector.
The group said net profit for the July through September quarter was 3.78 billion kroner ($567 million), compared to 2.2 billion kroner a year earlier.
Earnings per share were 2.25 kroner ($0.34) for the latest quarter, up from 1.30 kroner a year earlier.
“We have achieved excellent results with continued high growth in subscriptions and revenues,” said Telenor President and Chief Executive Jon Fredrik Baksaas. “Most of our operations improved their margins compared to the same quarter last year.”
Telenor, based at Fornebu near Oslo, said revenues increased 35 percent to 23.87 billion kroner ($3.58 billion) for the quarter from 17.64 billion a year earlier.
Telenor shares opened up 5.32 percent at 91.10 kroner ($14.78) on the Oslo stock exchange.
The group said its number of subscribers reached 105 million at the end of September, due partly to its subsidiary Telenor Serbia being consolidated into the result in September.
It said mobile phone operations in Norway, Sweden and Denmark were especially strong.
“At the same time, Kyivstar in Ukraine and GrameenPhone in Bangladesh continue to impress, delivering solid performances. We have expanded our footprint in the Balkans and are pleased to now include Telenor Serbia in the Group,” said Baksaas.
The company also announced the sale of its subsidiary Telenor Satellite Service to the French-based investment group Apax Partners for $400 million. The deal is contingent on regulatory approval.
Source- http://biz.yahoo.com
Telenor to expand its network
BELGRADE — Telenor will invest 15.3 million euros in the expansion and improvement of its network in Serbia.
The agreement signed by the telecommunications company will include new equipment worth 14 million euros. The agreement was signed by Telenor’s CEO in Serbia Stein Erik Vellan and the Ericsson company General Director Bo Andersen.
According to a statement from Telenor, the cooperation with Ericsson is the first step of a strategy for long-term investments into the Telenor company’s Serbian branch. Current subscribers and future customers will have better services as the investments expand Telenor’s network.
Telenor is one of the leading mobile communication operators in the world with over 100 million customers around the globe. It has been working officially in Serbia since September 1, after buying the Mobi 63 company for a price of 1.513 billion euros.
Source- http://www.b92.net
Mobilkom austria only bidder for third Serbian licence
The telecommunications regulator of Serbia has announced that mobilkom austria is the only operator that has filed an application to receive documentation on a a third mobile licence for GSM and UMTS networks. This means that mobilkom austria is the only company that acquired the right to participate in the further public bidding procedure. The operator has until 3 November to submit its bid, which will be opened publicly on that day.
Source- http://www.telecompaper.com
Technorati : Austria, Mobile, Mobilkom, Serbia
Ice Rocket : Austria, Mobile, Mobilkom, Serbia
Serbia opens mobile phone market for third operator
BELGRADE, Serbia Serbia offered a tender Tuesday for a third mobile phone operator in the country, setting the minimum price at €320 million (US$405 million) for the envisaged 10-year, renewable license.
The Balkan country’s Telecommunications Agency announced the decision along with conditions for perspective bidders: offers will be considered only from a well-established mobile telephony provider that has at least 3 million customers and 2005 revenues in excess of €500 million (US$632 million).
The announcement came just months after a major state-run provider was sold to Telenor ASA, of Norway, for €1.5 billion (US$1.9 billion) along with a 10-year, renewable operating license. The other existing mobile phone company in Serbia is state-run Telekom.
The agency said that interested companies can acquire necessary documentation about the tender and make official offers Nov. 3.
