Zain seeks to invest in Syria
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Syrian mobile market is in the eye of Kuwait’s Zain which has expressed its interest to make investments in the country’s mobile sector either through an acquisition of an operator license, or a stake in an existing operator. Currently, Syriatel and South African owned, MTN Syria are the two telecom operators operational in the country.
Zain has already met with the Syrian telecoms ministry to work out a suitable manner for the company to enter the market. Besides, the Syrian government has also been considering offering a 3rd mobile license for well over a year.
Syriatel was blacklisted by the U.S. Department of the Treasury due to its links with Rami Makhluf, which the US government has blacklisted due to his connections with the government. Hence, Zain would have to overcome this political hurdle to make any investment in this company.
Bharti launches new offshore arm to target South Asia
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: With the aim to spearhead its expansion into the south Asia region, Bharti Airtel has planned to launch a dedicated offshore arm on April 1. According to Sunil Bharti Mittal, chairman & managing director of Bharti, the company will develop comprehensive plans for its journey to cover emerging markets beyond India and South Asia.
This will leverage the depth and build a strong platform for fulfilling company’s global vision. The announcement was made after the acquiring of 70% stake in Bangladesh based telco, Warid Telecom by Airtel. Kuwait’s Zain Telecom and Sweden’s Millicom International Cellular is the new M&A target of the company.
Earlier, Bharti Airtel unsuccessfully bid to merge with South African giant MTN, twice.
Zain stake sale further delayed
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The current economic circumstances has lead to the delay in the finalization of the deal in which Karafi Group would sell 46% stake in Kuwait operator Zain. On 8 September, plan was revealed by a group of Indian and Malaysian investors to acquire a 46% stake in the company for about USD13.7 billion.
It was said that the deal would take four months to get completed.
However, uncertainty is looming over when the deal will be concluded although it is still on the table.
3G license fee remain US$25 million in Kenya
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Even after repeated requests from the mobile networks to lower the fees for 3G licenses, ¬Kenya’s telecoms regulator, the CCK, announced that the amount will remain Sh1.9 billion (US$25 million).
Even though Safaricom acquired a license in 2007 for the full fee of US$25 million in 2007, other operators feel that the price is too high for the market. If the new operators are offered the license at a lower price, Safaricom would seek a refund.
Mobile operator Zain has also applied for a license, planning a network launch in the first half of this year. Zain had 2.4 million subscribers in Kenya while Safaricom had 13.8 million subscribers at the end of June.
Airtel- Warid deal receive regulatory nod
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: By receiving the regulatory approval to pay $300 million for a 70% stake in Bangladesh’s fourth-largest cellco Warid Telecom via a new share issue, Bharti Airtel has strengthened its Asian asset portfolio.
If the move is successful, Indian mobile behemoth can compete with global magnates Telenor, Axiata and Orascom Telecom in Bangladesh. The moves have become imperative for Bharti in order to help prop up its profits from the low ARPU, highly competitive Indian market. Kuwait’s Zain Telecom and Sweden’s Millicom International Cellular are also on its target.
Late last year, South African government’s disapproval led to the failure of the Airtel’s deal to merge with South African giant MTN. However, for Bangladeshi investment, Airtel have big plans hoping the investment to surpass a total of $1 billion in the next few years.
Telkom Kenya (Orange) to conduct 3G trials
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: In order to enter Kenya’s fast-growing mobile data market, a series of 3G trials will be conducted by Telkom Kenya (Orange) across its mobile network.
The number of customers of the telecom operator rose from 697,000 a year ago to 772,000, this year. The company now intends to build on this growth by investing in the budding data market and 3G presents the opportunity to achieve fast growth. Submarine cable systems like SEACOM and TEAMS, has also boosted network capacity and bandwidth availability, leading to the growth in demand for data services in Kenya.
Telkom’s rival Safaricom was first to roll out 3G services, to obtain a licence in October 2007 and to launch W CDMA-based services in 2008. Safaricom also announced an increase by 93.6% over the year that ended 30 September 2009, with internet representing 17.7% of its revenues.
Zain Kenya followed suit in October 2009 and purchased its own USD25 million 3G concession in preparation for a network rollout.
MTNL, BSNL refuse to form consortium to buy Zain stake (India)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: MTNL and BSNL have refused forming a consortium to buy a 46% stake in Zain.It was earlier reported that India’s Vavasi Group, and Indian state-owned operators BSNL and MTNL as well as Malaysian businessman Mokhtar al-Bukhari would pay KWD 2 a share for a 46% stake in African and Middle East mobile operator Zain Group.According to the statement issued by MTNL and BSNL, they are not participating in a consortium but that they are always on the look out to explore all types of overseas business opportunities to expand operations.
