Vodacom eyes acquisition opportunities in Africa (Africa)
South African cellphone operator Vodacom Group Ltd. said that it is ready to grow its operations further across Africa and is on the hunt for small acquisitions.
Chief Executive Pieter Uys told DJN that they feel more comfortable that they have the recipe to be successful outside South Africa. Uys said the company is looking to make smaller acquisitions in the $100 million range focusing on a few countries on the continent that provide a stable political environment, big city populations and which aren’t overcrowded with other mobile phone operators.
As per the report, the key to expansion, Uys said, will be to establish a local presence in each country. When the company first expanded, Uys said it would put together packages in its home base of South Africa and then carry them out to the other countries it operates in–Tanzania, Mozambique, Lesotho and Congo. He added that Vodacom is considering expanding into Angola, Ethiopia and Uganda.
While telecommunications companies in Africa are benefiting from the expansion of its user base as more people enter the cellphone market, that growth doesn’t come without complications.
Vodacom is battling a court case over its 51 percent shareholding in Congo after a former consultant for the company took it to court over a payment dispute. Congolese courts ruled that Vodacom is liable to pay the company, Nememco,$21 million, and said if the company doesn’t settle the payment, the courts will conduct a public auction of its shares in Vodacom Congo on June 3.
Total Vodacom customers rose to 47.8 million for the year ended March 31, up 11 million from the previous year. In South Africa, customers rose by 6.1 million to 28.9 million.
Diego Gutierrez appointed as Tigo Tanzania’s new General Manager (Tanzania)
Mobile operator Tigo has appointed Diego Gutierrez as the General Manager for its operations in Tanzania. As per the company Gutierrez has 12 years of experience in the telecommunications industry, and has been working with the organisation for the past two and a half years as the Consumer/ Deputy General Manager.
Gutierrez replaces Marcelo Aleman who has been appointed as General Manager of MIC’s operationS in El Salvador. He said that he is very pleased to have been promoted to General Manager of Tigo Tanzania.
He added that he is proud to be heading a healthy business with a strong brand and enormous potential for growth as they offer new services to the market such as Tigo Pesa and Tigo Internet, which are proving to be very popular with their customers.
Vodacom launches low flat rates for Africa roaming (Africa)
Vodacom customers can expect huge roaming savings when travelling to 6 African countries where Vodacom and Vodafone operate. These countries include the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Mozambique and Tanzania. Vodacom is leveraging its presence and that of its parent company Vodafone in these African countries, to provide customers who travel to these countries with reduced rates applicable across the Vodacom and Vodafone networks.
The flat rates have resulted in roaming data rates being reduced by more than 70 per cent, from $ 2.2 per MB to only $ 0.64 per MB. In addition, roaming customers will also enjoy free incoming calls when they travel in these countries.
Commenting on the new Africa roaming service, Romeo Kumalo, Chief Commercial Officer at Vodacom said that they know that people want to remain connected whether they are at home or on holiday in Mozambique, and that nobody likes the headache of worrying about roaming bills. What they’re launching today is a solution to give their customers peace of mind when travelling. They now have one low roaming rate across our African family of networks and an especially aggressive data rate – just in time for the Easter holidays.
These rates are only applicable when roaming on the Vodacom Lesotho, Vodacom Mozambique, Vodacom Tanzania, Vodacom DRC, Vodafone Ghana and Safaricom Kenya networks. The reduced rates will automatically apply to all customers who are roaming on the networks above. Standard roaming rates will apply if roaming on a non Vodacom or Vodafone network in these countries.
Airtel to reward customer loyalty (Tanzania)
Airtel introduced a new campaign to reward its loyal customers. The new campaign named as “Nani Mkali” (who’s the best) will be operational for three months. Through Nani MKali campaign, Airtel customers will be rewarded with cash prizes. The company has announced that, via Nani Mkali, over 110 winners will be able to win around $200 million worth cash prizes.
The company stated that the campaign is purely based on Airtel’s slogan “feel free”. Further describing the methodology of campaign, Airtel informed that each day a winner of $1 million will be selected, every week one lucky customer can win $3 million and every month a lucky winner will get $30 million. Post-enrollment in the “Nani Mkali” campaign, customers will get to answer several questions in a quiz format and for every correct answer 20 points will be credited in the customer’s account and wrong answers will get 10 points deducted.
While drafting the campaign, the company has taken care of language options as well. Customers can opt for either English or Swahili, and at the same time can keep a track of the gained reward points. If the customer needs to opt out of the game then he/she will have to “cancel” or “stop” to the same number.
Airtel‘s East – African e-money connection (East Africa)
As part of a business expansion, Bharti Airtel is aiming at East Africa as a potential market for growth. Being functional in 16 African countries, Airtel is planning further expansion in an attempt to avail the benefits of increased trade in East Africa, due to the launch of the common market in 2010. The company opined that the e-money service will make the money transactions hassle free for businessmen by saving their time, usually wasted at bank queues.
The company is optimistic about its East African venture on the grounds of its partnerships with East African international and regional banks. Partnerships with financial institutions have enabled Airtel to work efficiently towards providing banking services, money transactions and payment of bills, among others.
Kick starting the business in Africa, Airtel launched its e-money service and mobile money platform in Uganda, allowing customers to withdraw cash through ATM’s. Airtel’s mobile money platform will serve various purposes like ATM transactions, airtime top ups, etc.
The company is planning to embark its presence in countries like Kenya, Tanzania, etc. Including Airtel, there are almost four operators in the e-money business in East Africa. Thus, for a stronger foothold in the market, Airtel is aiming to launch the e-money transactions amongst Uganda and its neighbouring countries.
Bharti Airtel contemplates mobile service launch in South Africa and Cameroon (Africa)
India’s leading telecommunications operator Bharti Airtel may be planning to expand its network in South Africa and Cameroon, as learned through industry sources. Airtel is a dominant player in the mobile industry with operations in 19 countries across Asia and Africa.
Mobile penetration has steadily been increasing in African countries, and with most of the global markets being saturated, emerging markets such as Africa provide mobile operators with new opportunities to increase their subscriber base and enhance their revenue.
Currently Airtel offers services in Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Chad, Congo Brazzaville, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Madagascar, Niger, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. By adding South Africa and Cameroon, two of Africa’s fastest growing mobile economies to the list, Airtel aims to strengthen its position in Africa.
Airtel is the leading mobile operator in India and is well known for its innovative and competitive tariff pricing. The operator’s entry into these new markets is expected to take the mobile industry by storm and introduce an unprecedented level of competition.
Airtel presently offers services in 15 cities in India and with the population of one Indian city being similar to that of one African country, South Africa and Cameroon have the potential to be extremely lucrative for Bharti Airtel.
Further, sources claim that rival operators currently offering services in these economies such as MTN, Vodacom and Orange are already working on strategies to maintain their market share and offer stiff competition to Airtel.
Bharti Airtel signs deal with Nokia to expand 3G services in Africa
Bharti Airtel, a leading telecom operator has signed a contract reportedly worth $ 700 million with Nokia Siemens Networks to expand its 2G network and deploy and manage 3G services in Africa.
As per the agreement, Nokia Siemens Networks will manage all network operations as well as provide energy-efficient base stations for Airtel in seven African countries including Madagascar, Malawi, Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and Congo Brazzaville. In an attempt to increase its subscriber base, Airtel has been expanding its presence in Africa’s rural regions.
According to reports, Manoj Kohli Airtel’s CEO (International) and Joint Managing Director said that this partnership will further enable them to rapidly expand their network coverage and provide high-speed wireless internet connectivity to their customers. Further, Nokia Siemens Networks, Chief Executive Officer, Rajeev Suri said that they look forward to working closely with Airtel to expand its network rapidly and deliver the right innovative products and services to help meet user demands.
Regulator gives green signal to Helios Towers operating tower network independently (Tanzania)
The Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority gives the green signal to Helios Towers Africa to grant the first license to operate a network of telecom towers across the country independently.
Apparently, this move has also substantiates the completion of Tanzania’s first tower sharing leaseback deal. In December 2010, Tigo Tanzania had sold 1,180 telecoms towers to Helios Towers Africa.
$80 million worth of cash would be paid to Tigo Tanzania upfront whilst retaining a noteworthy minority interest in the company. In addition, Helios Towers had acquired 729 towers in the Democratic Republic of Congo from Millicom which is the parent company of Tigo.
According to Charles Green, CEO of Helios Towers Africa, they are very pleased to be at the forefront of such an exciting and important new phase in Tanzania’s telecoms industry. Helios Towers pioneered independent tower sharing in Africa – this model is the best way to ensure accessibility, affordability and the highest quality of communications service through increased efficiency and competition. Also, they have seen significant success with their operations in Nigeria and Ghana while they look forward to bringing the same experience and benefits to Tanzania.
