Motorola wins SabaFon expansion deal
Motorola has signed an agreement with Yemeni cellco SabaFon to increase the coverage and capacity of its GSM network to enable it to serve a greater number of subscribers. The network expansion initiative, using a Motorola Reach GSM solution, will widen the scope of SabaFon’s reach in both the northern and southern regions of the country and boost SabaFon’s capacity.
According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms database SabaFon has been operating in Yemen since 2001 and has been working with Motorola since its launch. Today SabaFon claims GSM coverage of 85% of the Yemeni population, with a footprint that covers all major cities and highways. SabaFon is owned by a consortium that consists of the Al-Ahmar Group, CCIC (an international construction company) and Iran Foreign Investment Company.
Source- telegeography Wireless Mobile Telecom
MTN nears 35 mln subscribers after Investcom takeover
South Africa-based operator MTN Group has reported 34.768 million subscribers at the end of September, up 37 percent from June following its takeover of rival Investcom. Excluding Investcom, MTN increased its subscriber base 8 percent over the quarter to 27.384 million, while Investcom alone posted 20 percent growth to 7.384 million customers. Growth was driven by MTN’s South Africa operations, which increased customer numbers 7 percent to 11.16 million. In West and Central Africa, Nigeria and to a lesser extent Ghana contributed to the increase. Nigeria posted a 8 percent increase to 10.375 million, and Ghana increased its base 21 percent to 2.436 million. The Middle East and North East Africa region recorded subscriber growth of 17 percent for the quarter, mainly due to continued strong growth in Syria (20% to 2.1 million) and Uganda (14% to 1.4 million). The recent start-up in Afghanistan exceeded expectations and achieved net additions of 99,000 in the quarter. MTN expects the merger with Investcom to lead in 2007 to operatinal savings of USD 80-100 million and reductions in capital expenditure of at least USD 100 million. Limited savings have already been acheived this year.Among other markets, subscribers in Cameroon were up 9 percent to 1.66 million, Uganda rose 14 percent to 1.4 million, Cote d’Ivoire increased 13 percent to 1.26 million, Yemen was up 1 percent to 1.03 million, Sudan increased 30 percent to 771,000, the Mascom unit in Botswana rose 5 percent to 557,000, Benin was up 20 percent to 415,000, Rwanda rose 10 percent to 341,000, Swaziland was up 8 percent to 255,000, Congo- Brazaville gained 9 percent to 250,000, Guinea Conakry grew 75 percent to 201,000, Liberia was up 21 percent to 186,000, Zambia increased 5 percent to 125,000, Guinea Bissau rose 4 percent to 79,000 and the only European country, Levantine Cyprus, was down 10 percent to 70,000. In addition to providing subscriber figures, MTN gives ARPU figres for each subsidiary. South African ARPU rose to ZAR 162 in the third quarter from ZAR 159 in the second. Elsewhere, third quarter ARPU ranges from USD 11 in Yemen to USD 32 in Cyprus, with the next highest being Syria at USD 25. In Nigeria, ARPU was USD 18. The ARPU figure is an average for the time since the July acquisition of Investcom.
Source- telecompaper Wireless Mobile Telecom
