Vimplecom blames forex loss for decline in Q3 results (Russia)
Russian telecom operator, Vimplecom has reportedly listed the $400 million foreign exchange related losses as a key factor for the $356 million decline in the third-quarter net profit of the operator. According to reports, the network operator had said that its net profit was $104 million, down from $460 million on a proforma basis in the third quarter of 2010.
As per company reports, as much as $180 million was lost on movements in the euro/USD exchange rate. Further, the company also said that $110 million was attributable to the intercompany loan to Wind Mobile in Canada. Vimplecom has also reportedly claimed that it recorded a non-cash loss of around $110 million related to the fair value adjustment of embedded derivatives in Wind Italy.
Canada to have 28 million subscribers by 2012
A new research report has revealed that Canada will have 28 million mobile subscribers in 2012 with Bell Mobility’s market share decreasing over the next two years. Given the latest quarter numbers, their model forecasts that Telus Mobility will be replacing Bell Mobility (excluding Virgin Mobile) as the second largest mobile operator in Canada after Rogers Wireless in 2012.
Researchers also forecast that market shares of Telus Mobility and Bell Mobility will be 27.3% and 27% respectively by the end of 2012. They expect the entry of new mobile operators such as Videotron and Wind Mobile to take greater market share away from Bell relative to Telus, given Bell’s stronger presence in Central Canada and the new entrants’ focus in that part of the country.
As per the researchers, the wireless penetration rate in Canada is still relatively low compared to other developed countrie and they expect that the Canadian wireless market will continue to grow. According to the forecasting model, the number of mobile subscriber connections in Canada will increase from 25.3 million in 2010 to approximately 28 million by the end of 2012. The competitive dynamics in the Canadian mobile operator space are changing rapidly as new entrants increase their market shares. They forecast that the subscriber market share of the largest operator, Rogers Wireless, will be about 35.6% in the end of 2012.
Finally, the report predicts that Rogers Wireless will be enjoying the highest level of profitability in the Canadian wireless market during the forecast period. Their model is predicting that Rogers Wireless’s EBITDA margins will remain above 50% over the next eight quarters.
Rogers profit misses expectation on competition (Canada)
Canada’s largest wireless carrier, Rogers Communications Inc. has reported fourth-quarter profit that missed analysts’ estimates as new carriers and rival BCE Inc. hurt growth in new subscribers.
According to the company, profit excluding some items was 65 cents a share. Analysts predicted 67 cents, the average of estimates. Sales rose 3.1% to $3.15 billion, missing the average analyst estimate of $3.17 billion.
Rogers, led by Chief Executive Officer Nadir Mohamed, is facing the threat of new carriers Wind Mobile, Mobilicity and Public Mobile as well as a resurgent BCE. Bell, BCE’s main consumer brand and Canada’s second-largest wireless carrier, added 156,708 new mobile phone subscribers on contract last quarter, a 43 percent jump from a year earlier.
Rogers today renewed its share repurchase plan for as much as 39.8 million shares, worth up to $1.5 billion. The company raised its annualized dividend by 11% to $1.42 a share.
Ottawa to appeal over Globalive court ruling (Canada)
The Canadian government is all set to appeal over a court ruling that had declared that the launch of the Globalive (Wind Mobile) network was illegal.
At the time when Globalive was set up, it had the support from Egypt’s Naguib Sawiris, but Canadian law limits the foreign shareholders to minority interests. Following complaints, the telecoms regulator investigated about the company and found out that while the shareholding was within Canadian limits, the financial and technical backing offered by Sawiris’ Orascom Telecom had pushed its effective interest above the level allowed by the law.
However, the government later overturned that decision and decided to allow the company to launch its services regardless, in a move which was seen as potentially heralding a revamp of the country’s restrictions on foreign investment.
A couple of weeks ago though, a federal court struck down that decision and the company faces a theoretical threat of being shut-down. The Court ruled that the Cabinet order contained two errors and hence that the order should be quashed. This decision does not go into effect for 45 days.
According to Canada’s Industry Minister, Tony Clement, said today that he would like to confirm that the Harper Government will be appealing the Court’s ruling. They believe that their decision was the right one for Canadian consumers and they will vigorously defend it. Globalive is a Canadian company and meets the Canadian ownership and control requirements under the Telecommunications Act. Globalive should, therefore, be able to continue to offer service in the wireless telecommunications market.
According to Anthony Lacavera, Chairman of WIND Mobile, they are pleased that the Government has decided to appeal the Federal Court’s decision. From the beginning, Industry Canada and then Cabinet, maintained, with a full knowledge and understanding of the facts of their structure, that they are fully compliant with the Telecom Act rules, and they are pleased that the Government is vigorously defending its decision.
Federal Court of Canada overrules Globalive ownership decision
Canadian mobile operator Wind Mobile has stated that the Federal Court of Canada has ruled out the cabinet decision claiming that Wind Mobile’s ownership is fully compliant with Canada’s ownership. It further said that the control rules contained two errors and should therefore be quashed. The decision does not go into effect for 45 days.
The decision is the result of an application brought by rivals Public Mobile and Telus. According to Wind Mobile, it was very disappointed with the decision but noted that the court decision does not suggest that Cabinet got it wrong, only that it made errors in explaining their rationale and characterizing the decision.
The mobile operator is currently examining its options and is consulting with advisors to determine its next steps. Wind Mobile has attracted more than 250,000 subscribers since its 2009 launch.
Regulator CRTC initially rejected Globalive’s attempt to launch a mobile network in Canada. It ruled Globalive’s structure contravened foreign-ownership rules governing Canadian telecom companies because of its financial backing from Egypt’s Orascom Telecom.
The government subsequently overruled the CRTC decision, stating that it was satisfied that Globalive met the ownership rules since the voting control rested with Canadians and Canadians managed the company on a day-to-day basis.
According to Industry Canada Minister, Tony Clement, the government is studying the ruling and examining its options. As per reports, their government stands with consumers who want more competition.
Wind mobile trials LTE Network (Canada)
Wind Mobile Canada has announced the trial of a live LTE network, and the introduction of High Definition Voice Calling (HD Voice) across its network.
HD Voice is a technology that provides improved audio quality and the reduction of background noise. The HD Voice service only works on selected handsets, although more are being released that support the feature.
According to Ken Campbell, Chief Executive Officer of WIND Mobile, they are very proud of their network quality and of the efforts of their people to perform ongoing and rigorous testing to maintain quality and advance innovation. The company’s ability to deliver HD Voice before any other carrier in North America and to test LTE is examples of the technologies WIND is uniquely positioned to offer as they continue to advance their network to the next evolution of mobile network technology.
Wind to deploy Huawei Technologies’ HD voice services (Canada)
Huawei Technologies’ has announced that Canadian 3G cellular operator, Wind Mobile is deploying Huawei Technologies’ High Definition (HD) voice services for its subscribers, based on an implementation of ‘Wide Band Adaptive Multi-Rate (AMR)’ in the core network, and is the first wireless provider in Canada to use the service.
According to Marius Armeanca, CTO at Wind Mobile, the HD voice services Wind is using brings better quality voice to end users … Huawei was instrumental in helping us create a technology that will do for phones what High Definition did for television. With the customised Wide Band AMR Service, our customers will realise superior voice quality and an improved overall experience. Wide Band AMR is a speech coding standard using a wider bandwidth of 50Hz-7000Hz compared to narrowband quality bandwidth of roughly 300Hz-3400Hz.
Wind Mobile launches in Edmonton (Canada)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news Globalive’s WIND Mobile has been launched in the city of Edmonton in Canada. The network will be opened at six retail locations across the city, with another one in the Edmonton City Centre set to open next month.
The company made a history in December last year by becoming the first national wireless provider to launch in Canada in over a decade. WIND will launch in Ottawa and Vancouver in the coming months.
According to Anthony Lacavera, Chairman of Globalive and WIND Mobile, people want a mobile experience that is free of contracts, system access fees, high prices, poor service, limited technology, and complicated billing, and Wind Mobile built its offering to deliver on just that.
Globalive Wireless harnesses the power of conversation with Wind Mobile (Canada)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Today welcomes the first of many steps towards change in the Canadian wireless market. At a private employee event today, staff at Globalive Wireless were introduced to WIND, the company’s much-anticipated new brand name.
Today, we get one step closer to offering Canadians more choice, innovation and affordability when it comes to their wireless provider by bringing an already-recognized global wireless brand to Canada†said Anthony Lacavera, Chairman of Globalive Holdings. WIND is an established and growing brand with a successful history of over 10 years in two large European markets, and Canadians will benefit from the economies of scale of this relationship. By choosing the same brand name, we are able to not only leverage WIND’s challenger status, but also its operational intelligence and experience.â€
WIND is currently being developed based on feedback from Wireless Soapbox, which has shown that Canadians are frustrated with their current carriers. WIND is harnessing this power of conversation by meaningfully engaging customers in the co-creation of a better mobile experience. This direct challenge to conventional mobile service models aligns the company to the challenger status of the WIND brand and recognizes and celebrates the power that customers have, representing the positive change in mobile.
This is an exciting day for wireless in Canada and a historic moment for our company,†said Ken Campbell, CEO of Globalive Wireless. WIND is founded on the power of conversation and we believe that through a healthy dialogue with our customers, we can create a wireless service that will surpass our competitors’ current offerings. It’s time to raise the bar for wireless service in this country and make Canada’s wireless services comparable to the likes of Europe and the United States.â€
