China telecom may launch mobile services in UK
China Telecom Corporation Ltd, the country’s third largest wireless operator, has reportedly been in talks with network operators in UK, in order to lease network capacity for selling mobile services in the country. With this move China Telecom aims to target the tourist population for the London Olympics in 2012, along with the Chinese subscriber base living in UK.
Sources claim that the company has approached Everything Everywhere, a venture between Deutsche Telekom AG and France Telecom SA, and the Vodafone Group Plc. Often, mobile operators lease bulk network at wholesale prices, which helps them reduce operating expenses and offer competitive rates to their subscribers.
According to VisitBritain, the UK government’s tourism agency, the fastest increase in tourism to the UK from any country has been from China, with the number of visitors expected to increase by a further 89 percent by 2014. Following success in this venture, China Telecom may also expand to other countries, such as Germany and France.
Consolidation could take off in India as regulator considers relaxing acquisition laws
India could soon see the number of operators in its market drop significantly, with recent reports suggesting that the country’s Department of Telecoms may relax merger and acquisition rules so significantly that it will leave only around six operators in any service areas.†In such a scenario, around 10MHz of spectrum would be available to each operator.
The suggested revisions could be addressed in an assessment of India’s telecom policies due to take place in April. Minister of Telecom Kapil Sibal is reportedly investigating ways of safeguarding smaller operators’ investments if they are acquired by larger firms; however, this could potentially drive up the prices for acquisitions, making them a less attractive option.
India has a significant amount of startup operators that hold 2G spectrum but have failed to make an impact on the market meaning that this spectrum, while not necessarily idle, could be further capitalised upon. Larger operators are keen to acquire more spectrum, and it is likely this demand that is driving support for consolidation.
Once the regulations have been relaxed, mergers are likely to take place between operators that already have a presence in India; many observers believe that the country’s high profile 2G licensing scandal has deterred foreign firms from investing in the country. The ongoing scandal was caused by local operators which attracted foreign investment by purchasing spectrum at a knockdown price. However, foreign-owned firms that are already present in India, including NTT Docomo and Vodafone Group, could shift their focus towards consolidation.
Mobile network operators dialing in on data revenue
A research has revealed that mobile network operators, which once provided a simple phone and messaging service, are now evolving, catering to the consumers needs to offer a multi-platform technology experience via the mobile phone. This change, when the mobile network operators become providers of a rich mobile experience, requires investments and new strategic approaches to make business sustainable and competitive in front of new strong market entries and fresh patterns of consumption.
According to researchers, this increasingly constant demand for data has led large Western Europe mobile groups Deutsche Telekom – T-Mobile, France Telecom – Orange, Telefonica, and Vodafone Group to show signs of improvement with expected fourth quarter earnings in 2010.
The increasing trend in data demand is illustrated by the growing data revenue stream among these major mobile network operators. This data crave resulting from the penetration of the smart phone and other high-end devices, is leading these key Western Europe mobile groups to begin discussion of geographic expansion.
Researchers explain that with growing mobile penetration, mobile groups are facing an intensely price competitive and regulated environment. In order to generate a diversified income stream, expanding geographic operations from Europe, particularly to attractive emerging markets, becomes one of the market trends.
Both France Telecom – Orange and Vodafone Group have a large presence in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. Deutsche Telekom Group covers a majority of European countries, while Telefonica has vast coverage in the Americas.
Researchers added that most mobile groups aim to develop and introduce new services to consumers and business customers.
Vodafone Group’s strategic focus in 2011 will be on Europe, Africa and India (where the demand for telecommunications services is growing rapidly), while developing new services and corporate segments. France Telecom – Orange will implement cloud computing services to reach a goal of generating 500 million Euros by 2015. They also hope to become the number one videoconferencing provider in France. In Germany, Deutsche Telekom Group will continue a nationwide installation of their 4G network. They also plan on introducing new B2B cloud services outside of Germany. Telefonica plans to capitalize on both the Strategic Alliance Agreement signed with China Unicom as well as their new partnership with Jasper Wireless.
Seven groups shortlisted for Polkomtel (Poland)
Seven companies have been reportedly shortlisted to buy Polish cellco Polkomtel. According to reports, the list includes TeliaSonera, Telenor, four private equity fund consortia led by Blackstone Group, KKR, Prudential and Bain Capital, as well as Polish media mogul Zygmunt Solorz-Zak.
According to reports, Solorz-Zak had placed the highest bid -worth more than US$6.32 billion. The amount is above the highest valuation of Polkomtel, prepared by BZ WBK brokerage for one of the cellco’s shareholders. Reports added that a shortlist of bidders will be selected to conduct due diligence within the next few days.
Polkomtel’s current shareholders are Vodafone Group, Polish oil refiner PKN Orlen and copper mining group KGHM Polska Miedz, each with 24.39% stakes. Polish power utility PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna owns a 21.85% stake while coal miner Weglokoks holds 4.98%.
Acision appoints Jorgen Nilsson as new Chief Executive
Acision, a world leader in mobile data, today announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Jorgen Nilsson to Chief Executive. In his new role, the former COO will focus on the day to day leadership of the company, driving innovation and capitalising on the growing opportunities in the mobile data market.
As an industry veteran, Nilsson has more than 30 years experience in senior executive roles at leading blue chip companies including Ericsson and Compaq. He will be instrumental in driving Acision forward as it strengthens its position across the mobile data ecosystem.
Nilsson assumes his new position with immediate effect, succeeding Rory Buckley who has stepped down from Acision. Larry Quinn, Chairman at Acision, said, “It gives me great pleasure to announce Jorgen Nilsson’s progression to his new role to head up Acision as it continues to successfully lead the charge in the mobile data market. It was an opportune time to transition Acision’s leadership and Jorgen will now work with the rest of our committed executive team to drive the business to the next level. Jorgen’s passion, industry knowledge, breadth of experience and close senior relationships within the telecom sector will enable us to build on our solid customer base and develop our already strong next generation products portfolio.”
Commenting on his appointment, Jorgen Nilsson said: “Acision has an enviable global customer portfolio and is ideally placed to support our customers in successfully monetising their data services. I am excited to be given the chance to work with such a dedicated group of people to drive leadership, operational excellence and take the company forward to next phase of business relevance. This will provide the foundation to positioning Acision as a world leader in the mobile data.”
Prior to joining Acision as COO, Nilsson worked for over 10 years at Ericsson where his most recent position was Executive Vice President and General Manager of Vodafone’s Global Customer Unit. In this role, Nilsson was responsible for the management of Vodafone Group’s 21 operators, as well as driving economies of scale across Ericsson’s global sales, marketing, technology and operational teams. Nilsson was also previously part of Ericsson Group’s Extended Executive Team.
Vodafone Essar expects enterprise business revenue to triple by 2016 (India)
A senior executive has stated that Vodafone Essar Ltd., the Indian telecom unit of UK’s Vodafone Group expects the contribution of enterprise business to its total revenue to triple by 2016.
According to Naveen Chopra, Director of the enterprise and carrier business, Vodafone Essar’s enterprise business, which provides voice and data-based services to large and small corporates, now, contributes to 8%-10% of its revenue. Vodafone will use its 3G bandwidth for last-mile connectivity in the enterprise business. They would like to see a disproportionate use of 3G by enterprise business.
Polkomtel to receive indicative offers by 21 February? (Poland)
If sources are to be believed, indicative offers for Polish mobile network operator Polkomtel are due by 21 February.The sellers are expected to cut down the shortlist of potential suitors to conduct due diligence by early March.
According to sources, the long-awaited information memorandum on Polkomtel was sent out last Monday. US buyout firms TPG and Blackstone Group are reportedly mulling over a shared bid, while London-based CVC Capital Partners and Apax Partners are looking at making their own bids for the company, as is Swedish telco TeliaSonera.
The eagerly expected sale has been complicated by the fact that Polkomtel is owned by five companies, with the Polish government holding substantial stakes in three of them, and each retaining their own financial advisor.
Poland’s largest power group, PGE holds a 21.85% stake in Polkomtel and is advised by ING Securities; oil refiner PKN Orlen holds 24.39% and is advised by Nomura Holdings; copper miner KGHM Polska Miedz also has 24.39% and is advised by Rothschild.
Poland’s Treasury owns stakes of 84.99%, 27.52%, and 31.79% in the three companies, respectively. The remaining shareholders in Polkomtel are Vodafone Group, which has a 24.39% stake, and coal miner Weglokoks, which is wholly owned by the Treasury and holds a 4.98% stake.
Device makers compete to hit 4G network
The mobile internet is finally becoming a reality, urged on by the installment of new high-speed mobile data networks and the emergence of a new class of smartphones, slate-style tablets and other devices designed to take advantage of the new network capabilities and content geared to mobile users.
The chief US mobile network operators and makers of smartphones and tablet PCs used the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, as a launch pad for their new 4G services, software applications and devices boasting download speeds up to 10 times faster than current 3G networks.
The success or failure of the companies in persuading consumers and business users to trade-up to higher speed data networks and the next generation electronic devices that run on them will be closely watched elsewhere as mobile network operators worldwide prepare to invest in new infrastructure based on LTE (Long Term Evolution) and rival technologies.
At CES, Verizon Wireless, the joint venture between Verizon Communications and Britain’s Vodafone group, launched 10 new consumer products including four smartphones and two tablets designed to operate on its new LTE network which launched last month.
The new LTE devices, which will be available by mid-year, include Motorola’s new Droid Bionic smartphone and rival Google Android-powered handsets from HTC, Samsung and LG Electronics.
The two tablets, both powered by Google’s new Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) operating system, are Motorola’s Xoom and an LTE version of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab.
According to Dan Malone, Verizon Wireless Chief Technology Officer, the LTE network performance is already exceeding our expectations and promised that the network would be quickly extended from the initial 39 markets to more than 170 markets and two-thirds of the US population by year-end.
Grupo Iusacell files for bankruptcy again (Mexico)
Grupo Iusacell, struggling Mexican mobile network operator, has filed for pre-arranged bankruptcy and is looking for a second restructuring of its debt with creditors in just four years.
A judge may rule on whether to instigate bankruptcy proceedings next week, Gricelda Nieblas, head of the Federal Institute of Bankruptcy Specialists, a part of the judicial branch.
Billionaire owner, Salinas Pliego acquired 74% of Iusacell in 2003 for $7.4 million from Verizon Communications and Vodafone Group, assuming the debt in the process, but has struggled since then to turn the company around and has previously restructured the debt to reduce its servicing costs on the company.
The company delisted from the Mexican stock exchange at the start of this year. The company hasn’t reported any financial results since then, although its last financial statement confirmed that its subscriber base reached 3.6 million at the end of 2009.
