Telecom Egypt close to acquire MVNO license, Naeem Says
Naeem Brokerage has revealed that Telecom Egypt is closer to acquire a license that would allow the North African country’s monopoly fixed-line operator to provide mobile-phone services using an existing operator’s network.
According to previous reports by Naeem, the license, by which the company would become a mobile virtual network operator, would help Telecom Egypt contain the impact of users switching to mobile phones.
Naeem, which has a buy recommendation on Telecom Egypt, expects to raise its current price estimate of US$3.6 after the company reports fourth-quarter earnings. According to Naeem, Cairo- based Telecom Egypt is likely to increase dividend payments.
Etisalat, Airtel launch fibre optic cable from India to Europe
UAE-based telecom major, Etisalat has launched a high capacity fibre optic submarine cable that stretches from India to Europe, in collaboration with eight other global telecom players, including Bharti Airtel and Tata Communications.
According to Etisalat’s statement, the 13,000-km three pair fiber optic cable named IMEWE (India-Middle East-Western Europe), has a design capacity of 3.84 terabits per second, connecting India to Italy and France via Middle East, with landings en-route in Pakistan, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Lebanon.
It added that the IMEWE consortium comprises of nine major telecom companies — Bharti Airtel (India), Etisalat (UAE), France Telecom-Orange (France), OGERO (Lebanon), Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (Pakistan), Saudi Telecom Company STC,(Saudi Arabia), Telecom Egypt (Egypt), Telecom Italia Sparkle (Italy), and Tata Communications (India).
According to Etisalat Carrier and Wholesale Services Executive Vice-President Ali Amiri, the extra capacity and reliability provided by the IMEWE cable will not only delight customers across the region and bring great benefit to UAE as a whole but will also respond to substantial growth in capacity requirements due to surge in broadband demand witnessed by the region.
He added that their participation in the IMEWE is an example of this vision taken from and they expect to see great results in terms of both the performance of their network and an enhanced customer experience.
IMEWE is the third major submarine cable operational between India and Europe after SMW3 and SMW4 and is expected to play a major role in meeting ever growing bandwidth requirement of Indian sub-continent and Middle East to Europe and beyond.
Telecom Egypt employs 3 senior Vice Presidents
Egyptian fixed-line monopoly Telecom Egypt (TE) has stated that it had created three senior vice president posts to help it focus more on customers and to identify commercial opportunities.
According to the company, the new officials, who report directly to TE’s chief executive and managing director Tarek Tantawy, will allow TE to advance its technology to support data services such as high-speed broadband.
It added the changes are designed to enable the business to develop a more customer centric approach, identify commercial opportunities across the TE group and to develop market-leading telecommunications solutions for its customers.
Among the new senior Vice Presidents is former Vice President for operations and maintenance, Mohamed Abdel Rehim, who has been appointed as the chief technology officer, and former Vice President for international, wholesale and regulatory affairs, Mohamed Elnawawy, who has become the chief strategy officer.
Emad Elazhary, who had been responsible for TE’s telephony business, has now become the chief commercial officer.
IMEWE broadband submarine cable begins operations, links the Middle East to India and Europe
France Telecom-Orange announced that the new India Middle East Western Europe (IMEWE) submarine cable was officially lit on December 10. The submarine cable network serves eight countries: India, Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Lebanon, Italy and France. The link, mapped below, comprises 13,000 km of fiber-optic cable.
France Telecom-Orange group said it brought together several major partners in an international consortium for the project, including Bharti, Etisalat, Ogero, Pakistan Telecom, Saudi Telecom, Telecom Egypt, Telecom Italia Sparkle, and Tata Communications.
Besides providing high-speed connections between Europe, the Middle East, and India, IMEWE offers an alternate route to secure the broadband telecommunications carried by the Sea-Me-We 4 cable linking Southeast Asia to Western Europe.
IMEWE has a potential capacity of 3.84 Tbps. The system was designed to migrate towards new 40-Gbps technology.
The construction of the IMEWE cable represented a total investment of around $480 million, about $60 million of which came from France Telecom-Orange.
Egypt’s Telecom Growth May Slow: HC
Cairo-based AlembicHC’s report has revealed that growth in Egypt’s telecommunications industry may be limited next year and beyond as mobile-phone revenue per user and the number of new subscribers decline.
The penetration rate in Egypt is higher than it seems as real penetration is expected to reach 95% by the end of 2010. HC Brokerage, which issued the report, is now known as AlembicHC.
According to AlembicHC, Telecom Egypt, the country’s monopoly fixed-line operator and 45% shareholder of the second-biggest mobile network, Vodafone Egypt, faces better growth prospects because of the diversity of its revenue stream and strong balance sheet. Egyptian Co. for Mobile Services, Egypt’s biggest mobile-network operator also known as Mobinil, will face rising competition and higher costs for upgrading its network.
AlembicHC estimates Mobinil will have a market share of 40.5% at the end of the year, compared with Vodafone Egypt’s 41.1%. According to the report Egypt will have 74.9 million subscribers by year-end.
IMEWE submarine cable launched for commercial use
A consortium of nine telecom operators has announced the commercial launch of fibre-optic submarine cable IMEWE (India- Middle East- Western Europe).
The 13000 kilometers long three pair fiber optic cable named IMEWE has a design capacity of 3.84 terabits per second, and is also the most advanced cable connecting India in South Asia to Italy and France in Western Europe via the Middle East with landings enroute in Pakistan, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Lebanon.
The IMEWE consortium comprises of telcos such as Bharti Airtel (India), Etisalat (UAE), France Telecom-Orange (France), OGERO (Lebanon), Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (Pakistan), Saudi Telecom Company STC (Saudi Arabia), Telecom Egypt (Egypt), Telecom Italia Sparkle (Italy), and Tata Communications (India).
IMEWE is the third major submarine cable operational between India and Europe after SMW3 and SMW4 and is expected to play a major role in meeting ever growing bandwidth requirement of Indian sub continent and Middle East to Europe and beyond. IMEWE system would also play a key role in expansion of broadband services among masses in concerned countries.
Telecom Egypt Q3 net profit down by 7.3%
State-owned Telecom Egypt revealed its Q3 results. As per the results net profit fell 7.3% to US$133 million from a year ago as seasonality hit the company’s retail business.
According to the company, the timing of Ramadan this year (coinciding with August) has had some effect on retail services. Earnings per share for the three months ended Sept. 30 stood at US$0.07 compared with US$0.08 in the year earlier period. The average revenue per user for the third quarter declined 12.5% to US$9.21.
According to Ahmed Adel, telecoms analysts at Naeem Holding in Cairo, third-quarter retail revenues suffered from Ramadan high promotional activities, and were down 5% quarter on quarter and 11.2% year on year. This is a reasonable decline, given the severe competition with cellular operators and challenge from mobile substitutions.
As per the company, nine-month net profit reached US$469.48 million, up 6% compared with the same period a year earlier, while revenue for the period rose 1% year on year to US$1.3 billion. Fixed-line subscribers reached 9.7 million by the end of September, the operator added.
Telecom Egypt Denies Interest in Zain Saudi Arabia
Telecom Egypt has refused media reports and is no more interested in bidding for Zain’s Saudi Arabian network if it comes up for sale as widely expected.
According to reports, CEO Tarek Tantawy, the Egyptian landline monopoly, which is majorly owned by the Egyptian government, is eager to increase broadband penetration in its domestic market.
Zain holds a 25% stake in the Saudi network, but Etisalat, which is currently bidding to take over Zain, also operates a mobile network in the county, leading to expectation that it will have to sell the Zain KSA network stake to another company. The stake is currently valued at around US$750 million.
According to the CEO, all of their focus in the coming period is on their home market, to become a total communications provider and increase broadband penetration. The company sees a future in broadband in their home market.
The company’s Chairman, Akil Beshir quoted saying the firm would be interested in Zain KSA if it was for sale.
According to Tantawy, Telecom Egypt had no regional plans, be it in Saudi or elsewhere, for the time being, but added that a bid for Zain KSA is unlikely to happen, without explicitly ruling it out.
Telecom Egypt backs away from buying Vodafone’s stake
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Telecom Egypt has announced that it has backed away from its desire to buy out Vodafone’s stake in its Egyptian mobile network. 54.9% stake in the company is currently held by Vodafone and 44.95% is controlled by Telecom Egypt.
According to a joint statement issued by the companies, Vodafone and Telecom Egypt announce that discussions concerning the ownership structure of Vodafone Egypt (VFE) have concluded and the parties have agreed that it is in the best interest of VFE that the current ownership structure should remain in place.
£3 billion might have to be paid by Telecom Egypt to buy out the Vodafone holding in the company.
