Vodafone Qatar to file legal complaint against regulator
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Legal action might be taken by Vodafone Qatar against the regulator for allowing Virgin into the market as a third provider. A partnership deal had been signed between Qatar Telecommunications and Virgin earlier this month to launch Virgin Mobile Qatar in a brand licensing agreement to offer a prepaid mobile phone service.
According to ictQATAR, the regulator, only two telecoms providers have licenses to operate in the Gulf Arab state: QTel and Vodafone Qatar, a unit of Vodafone and any entity with concerns about this matter should file a formal complaint with ictQATAR, including evidence to support these concerns adding that it will investigate any “properly filed” complaint and take appropriate action.
Vodafone has claimed Virgin Mobile’s entry as a violation of the conditions of its license, which cost shareholders 7.7 billion riyals ($2.12 billion), and of the telecoms law in Qatar.
Vodafone Qatar plans to launch legal action against Virgin entry
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Legal action against the regulator in Saudi Arab is planned to be launched by Vodafone Qatar, which began operations as the Gulf Arab state’s second mobile operator last summer, over Virgin Mobile’s entry into the market. Richard Branson’s Virgin Mobile entered into a licensing tie-up with incumbent operator Qatar Telecom, or Qtel and got launched just 10 days ago in Qatar. Shares in the company closed up Wednesday 0.6% at QAR8.2.
According to Grahame Maher, Vodafone Qatar’s chief executive, Vodafone Qatar is happy to compete and is not threatened by Virgin Mobile’s entry into the market, but the company sees this as a change to the rules of its license.
A unit of U.K. telecoms giant Vodafone Group, Vodafone Qatar released a statement in it was made clear that it is pursuing legal action against the gas-rich state’s telecoms regulator, ictQatar, over Virgin Mobile and that it thought Virgin’s partnership with Qtel was unlicensed. Vodafone Qatar feels that its second public mobile telecommunications networks and services license conditions are violated by this move. It also violates the telecoms law in Qatar which states that no further mobile service provider would enter into the market, and be licensed, until the proposed Sector review.
After raising QAR3.38 billion ($928 million) in a 40% share sale to the public in July 2009, Vodafone Qatar got listed on the Doha bourse. The sale has been hailed as the biggest initial public offering last year in the Middle East and North Africa region.
According to Vodafone Qatar’s chairman Sheikh Abdulrahman Bin Saud Al-Thani, the company is taking legal action for the damages this has caused its shareholders and it is simply protecting their interests; 82,000 of which are individual Qataris that paid 40% of the second mobile license fee.
A net loss of QAR673.4 million for a full year 2009 has been posted by the company earlier this month.
Vodafone Qatar’s customer base reaches 464,962
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The customer base of Vodafone Qatar reached 464,962 at the end of March 2010. The subscribers number increased after the commercial launch of post-paid services as the country’s second mobile operator in July 2009 and pre-paid services the following September.
50% of customers joined via its online store. According to Grahame Maher, CEO of Vodafone Qatar, the company is thrilled by this amazing result which has exceeded the expectations and targets for customer numbers and it now has a substantial customer base that will help drive future performance and forms a solid basis for generating future revenue growth.
The newcomer has taken 18% of the mobile market, led by Qatar Telecom (Qtel).
Vodafone to get Qatar’s second fixed-line license
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Gulf Arab’s second fixed-line phone license has been awarded to the country’s second largest telecoms firm by market value, Vodafone Qatar. The company was offered the fixed line license in September 2008. The approval by Qatar’s regulator to award the license to the operator was subject to change pending approval at its extraordinary general meeting.
A delay due to complications with the fixed-line consortium’s shareholding structure has already dogged Vodafone’s final approval for the license. According to Grahame Maher, Vodafone Qatar’s chief executive, the company is waiting for the final approval of the shareholding structure that the government wants to run and Vodafone Qatar would probably hold a stake of between 25% and 35% in the new venture.
A 50-50 joint venture between U.K. telecom giant Vodafone Group PLC and the Qatar Foundation, Vodafone Qatar is listed on the Doha Bourse in July last year after raising 3.38 billion Qatari riyals ($928 million) in a 40% share sale.
The sale has been described as the biggest initial public offering last year in the Middle East and North Africa region.
Vodafone Qatar and GBI sign cable deal
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Vodafone Qatar and Gulf Bridge International signed a deal to provide a landing station the latter’s submarine cable in the Gulf state.
GBI cable system is scheduled to launch in 2011 and designed to operate for up to 25 years. It will connect telecommunication operators and other communications firms in the region via a core ring, which can re-route traffic thereby increasing resilience.
All the countries of the Gulf region will be connected by the GBI cable system and it will also provide onward connectivity to Europe and Asia. The cable system will have a design capacity of up to 5 Tbps on certain cable sections.
The system will also have capability to meet the rapid growth in demand that has been forecast for traffic originating and terminating in the Gulf.
Vodafone Qatar claims 20% market share
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: 353,580 customers had been signed by Vodafone Qatar by the end of December 2009. By this, it got a market share of over 20% just six months after its commercial network launch on 1 July.
The increase in the company’s user number is said to be beyond expectations with all financial indicators either in line or ahead of its plan. A nine-month revenue of QAR217 million (USD60 million) was posted by Vodafone Qatar even after introducing its service with a limited trial in March 2009.
Besides, the international calling promotion in 4Q 2009 also proved to be successful with users making over 70 million minutes of overseas calls in November alone.
Service line won’t be affected due to delays to fixed line award, says Vodafone Qatar
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Corporate governance issues has again led to the delay, this time until the first quarter of the next year, in the official award of Qatar’s second fixed line license to Vodafone Qatar.
In September 2008, the British-Qatari joint venture was declared the winner of the second national operator (SNO) license, with commercial fixed line services originally mooted for 2009, whilst in the meantime it broke the monopoly of Qatar Telecom (Qtel) with the launch of 2G/3G services in July 2009.
According to William Fagan, the head of the country’s regulator, ictQATAR , Vodafone Qatar and its local investor Qatar Foundation had still not formed the actual company that will be awarded the fixed license. In order to launch fixed line services before the end of 2010, he expects all problems to be resolved early in the next year.
Vodafone Qatar IPO update (Qatar)
Vodafone Qatar, the country’s second mobile network operating licensee, has announced that it intends to appoint HSBC Middle East and Qatar National Bank to lead manage its upcoming initial public offering (IPO). The start-up joint venture, currently 51% owned by the UK’s Vodafone Group, with the rest held by the Qatar Foundation, must sell a 40% stake to the public by 30 June under the conditions of its concession it won in December. Following the IPO Vodafone will hold 45% of the Qatari unit’s share capital, with 40% in public hands and the remaining 15% held by Qatar government institutions. In a statement, the new cellco added that it had yet to receive regulatory approvals for its plans.
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