OTE sells Cosmofon to Telekom Slovenije for $251.3Mn (Greece, Slovenia)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: OTE, the Greek telco has agreed to sell off its Macedonian mobile arm Cosmofon and retail chain Germanos Telekom Skopje to the Slovenian incumbent Telekom Slovenije.
OTE will sell the units at a price tag of 190 million euros ($251.3 million). OTE had planned to sell Cosmofon due to regulatory reasons after Deutsche Telekom purchased a 25% stake in the Greek firm.
Telekom Slovenije reaches EUR 200Mn investment in Ipko (Kosovo)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Telekom Slovenije, the Slovenian telco, has reached an investment of EUR 200 million in its subsidiary in Kosovo, Ipko.
According to Akan Ismaili, CEO Ipko, the telco aims to grow its subscriber base to 1 million from the current 350,000.
Currently, Ipko holds a 35% market share in the country and expects to capture 50% of the market share in the coming years.
Slovenia ends 2008 with 100.1% mobile penetration
The mobile subscriber base in Slovenia has surpassed the population of the country, reports the Agency for Post and Electronic Communications. According to the Slovenian Watchdog, the mobile penetration in the country has reached 100.1% in Q4’08, rising by 4.9% from 2007.
Mobitel, country’s largest mobile operator, lead the market with 58.9% of the market share, followed by Simobil which stood at 27.8% and Tusmobil at 5.8%.
Nearly 85,075 of mobile phoner numbers were ported in 2008, escalating by 30% since 2007.
SOD fails to sell 10% stake in Telekom Slovenije (Slovenia)
The Slovenian state fund SOD has unveiled its failure to sell 10% stake in the Slovenian incumbent Telekom Slovenije, which was recently put up for public tender. SOD has not recieved a single bid uptil now and the tender has expired.
Telekom Slovenia earns profits of $92.34 million from Jan-Sept 2008 (Slovenia)
Telekom Slovenia, the Slovenian telco, expects a stangnant profit of $114.4 million in 2008, same as in 2007. It further reports a 4% dip in net profits to $92.34 million and revenues grew by 10% to $827.81 million. “Our goal to reach the same group net profit as in 2007 is still achievable,” Telekom Slovenia said in a statement.
Telekom Slovenia seeks acquisition targets in the region. “Telekom Slovenia group actively follows interesting and promising opportunities for purchasing important operators in the region,” it said.
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Slovenia Telecom eyes Cosmofon sale (Slovenia)
Slovenia Telecom shows interest in buying Cosmofon, the second mobile and landline operator in Macedonia. Cosmofon, a subsidiary of Greek OTE, is likely to be put on sale in February or March 2009 driven by protection for the competition, after Deutsche Telecom acquired 25% of OTE.
Slovenia Telecom is in talks with various financial institutions for a loan of $508.76 Million for the takeovers planned by the operator in the region. Apart from Cosmofon, Slovenia Telecom also eyes majority shares in BH Telecom, and also seeks opportunity to incest in Croatia.
Wireless Mobile Telecom Wireless News
Hyundai handsets, coming soon in European mobile phone market
A new entrant in European mobile phone market is soon going to give tough competition to the existing one. An independent distribution company called Hyundai Mobile Europe have been set up by Austrian distributor Leitz Austria. They are planning to sell Hyundai phones in 23 Western and Eastern European countries. The company was launched in September and has already marketed eight mobile phones in Austria. CEO of Hyundai Mobile Europe, Norbert Winkler said that they are confident that the company will break even in 2009 and reach a market share of between 3 and 5% within the next five years.
Hyundai mobile has inked agreements with Hungarian mobile operator Pannon and Slovenian mobile operator Mobiltel to market its mobile phones, while deals with mobile operators in Austria are expected to be finalised soon. The firm is planning to roll out between 10 and 15 mobile devices in the categories Basic, Music, Lifestyle, Innovation and Business.
Wireless Mobile Telecom Wireless News
Magyar Telekom shows keen interest in Telekom Slovenije (Hungary)
Magyar Telekom says that is still has a keen interest in purchasing Telekom Slovenije. Magyar Telekom Chairman and Chief Executive Christopher Mattheisen said, “In case of Telekom Slovenia, a lot depends on the price. We’re still keen on Telekom Slovenia but not at any price”.
He also added that the operator, in order to expand, is looking for acquisitions in markets like Ukraine, Kosovo, and Bosnia.
APEK recieves seven more interested parties for UMTS frequencies (Slovenia)
Slovenia’s telecom regulator APEK recieves seven new interest expressions for the additional UMTS 3G mobile frequencies after a public invitation issued in August. The country has four 3G licensees Mobitel, Si.Mobil, Tusmobil and T-2.
Batelco gives it’s subscribers, ‘Batelco World Freedom’ (Bahrain)
Batelco (Bahrain Telecommunications Company) introduces a new service for it’s subscribers, ‘Batelco World Freedom’. This new service will allow it’s subscribers to recieve free incoming calls from across the world in 21 nations. Subscribers who roam in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iraq, Algeria, Norway, Luxemburg, Sudan, Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Albania, Armenia, Bosnia, Croatia, Estonia, Georgia, Moldova, Mozambique, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia will be able to use the service.
