Zamtel shortlists three companies for its privatization bid

On 03.15.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: A step ahead has been taken in the privatization bid of Zambia’s telecommunications operator Zamtel. The step has been taken after the Zambia Development Agency (ZDA) short listed three companies to continue the bidding with Indian state owned telco BSNL withdrawing from the bidding.

Angola’s Unitel, Libya’s LAP Green Networks and Russia’s Altimo are now the three shortlisted companies by Zamtel. BSNL withdrew after carrying out due diligence on the company.

According to ZDA privatization manager Henry Sakala, the bids will be subjected to an evaluation by the ZDA and after the evaluation they will be presented to the ZDA board, which will make a decision on which companies with which to negotiate.

The negotiation with the bidders will be done by an independent team to be appointed which will try and avoid the political problems that have bedeviled privatizations in other countries.

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Zamtel to receive fibre pairs of Zesco by Zambian govt

On 02.08.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: In a move to make Zambia Telecommunications Company (Zamtel) more attractive to potential buyers, Zambian government might offer a number of fibre pairs to the operator which are currently controlled by state-owned power company Zesco. Seven of twelve fibre pairs that Zesco has will be transferred.

Of the remaining five, two are used by Zesco to manage its power network; one is used by South Africa-based MTN, which owns a mobile operator in Zambia, while the last two are not currently in use.

Currently, Huawei is in the process of rolling out a fibre backbone for Zamtel, but it remains incomplete and by comparison to Zesco’s existing infrastructure is significantly less expansive.

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Four international telcos to bid for stake in Zambian incumbent.

On 01.14.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Four international groups namely Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd.of India, LAP Greencom Ltd of Libya together with LAP Green Networks, Angola’s Unitel, and Russia’s Vimpel Communications, bidding to buy 75% stake in Zambia Telecommunications Co. have been shortlisted.

According to Muhabi Lungu, acting director general of the ZDA, all the four shortlisted companies are serious and respected telecommunications players. In the next round of bidding on Monday, the shortlisted bidders will be given an opportunity to conduct further due diligence on Zamtel before submitting new offers.

25% stake has been retained by the government, which has reserved the right to sell this through an initial public offering on the Lusaka Stock Exchange.

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Altimo of Russia joins bidding in Zamtel privatization

On 01.05.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: According to a research agency, the fourth bid from Russia’s Altimo has been accepted for controlling a stake in phone company Zambia Telecommunications Co.

The bid was submitted five minutes after the deadline which was December 23. Therefore it was not added to offers from Libya’s LAP Greencom Ltd together with LAP Green Networks, Angola’s Unitel Corp. and India’s state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd that day.

The short-listed bidders have been called for conducting further due diligence on Zamtel. They will be asked to submit a binding bid for a majority equity stake. The details of the next phase of privatization and of the indicative bids will be revealed on January 11.

In September, ZDA had announced that it was selling Zamtel, which also owns mobile-phone operator Cell-Z and Internet service provider Zamtel Online.

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Zambian government under pressure to release Zamtel valuation report

On 12.28.09, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Zambia’s civil society organizations have pressurized the Government to release the valuation report it commissioned to sell its majority stakes in a fixed line incumbent Zambia Telecommunications Company (Zamtel).

According to Fackson Shamenda, former Zambia Congress of Trade Union president, there has not been much transparency in the sale of Zamtel and with the release of the information the potential concerns over the sales will be cleared.

Earlier this year the government had appointed RP Capital to evaluate the telco’s assets, after deciding to sell 75% stake in Zamtel. However they never released the report. This led to complaints saying that there has been no transparency in the process.

According to The Zambia Development Agency (ZDA), eight companies including Portugal Telecom, Orascom Telecom and Vimpelcom have pre-qualified for the stake sale, and those firms are due to complete due diligence today, with bids due by midday. The ZDA will release the identity of those companies that have submitted bids for the stake and after reviewing the bids announce the shortlisted candidates on January11.

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MTN & IMI announce partnership

On 10.02.09, In Mobile, By Editor

Millions of mobile and online content users across Africa and the Middle East will reap the benefits of a landmark tie-up between MTN and IMImobile – an India-based software and managed services provider linked to 350 content providers worldwide.

The two companies have teamed up in a bold move to address the growing demand for content in emerging markets. This strategic partnership will entail providing MTN’s 21 markets access to a repository of current and globally popular content through enhanced delivery platforms. Content categories will include music (with local and international flavour), sports, games, entertainment, news and much more.

It will also enable MTN to launch new income-generating voice and data services across its global footprint, with revenues from mobile content and services estimated at around US$150.2 billion in 2011, up from US$89,3 billion in 2006, worldwide. (more…)

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China & Japan likely to develop mobile network together

On 04.28.09, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The political leaders of China and Japan are likely to hold talks on developing 3G mobile telephone network jointly for the Chinese mobile market. Japan already uses 3G mobile standards, which allows smooth transmission of images and music files, while 2G technology still remains predominant in China.
Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso is likely to meet Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Wednesday and President Hu Jintao on Thursday in Beijing.
According to Japanese industry ministry official a mobile phone system upgrade “is one of the subjects that they may discuss during the summit” but he added that no agreement was expected yet.
A local Japanese media report also said that Aso and Wen are expected to agree on jointly developing 3G and the more advanced 3.9G services, enabling quick transmission of video files, for the Chinese market.
The Japanese mobile phone manufacturers in China have been left behind in the race by rivals such as Finnish Nokia Corp. and South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co., driven by incompatible of standards.
If the two countries join hands, according to a media report, will develop applications and content for the 3.9G services which Japan also plans to introduce next year.
With foreign firms dominating 70% of the Chinese mobile handset market, Beijing aims to encourage the technical prowess of home-grown companies through the alliance.
Whereas Japan hopes that the technological alliance will help Japanese firms make inroads into China’s heavily regulated telecoms sector.

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China Telecom offers free mobile internet access in Beijing

On 03.12.09, In Mobile, By Editor

China Telecom is reportedly offering free internet access for its mobile-telephone service in Beijing to attract subscribers. New users will get 20-50 megabytes of free internet usage per month, in comparison to the charges of  50-300 CNY.  The incumbent will also slash local call charges by 72%. China Telecom is promoting the mobile service and intends to introduce its upgraded 3G service in Beijing and Guangdong in March. China Unicom Chairman Chang Xiaobing, reportedly said that his company was planning to invest CNY 95 billion this year on network expansion. About CNY 60 billion would be spent on 3G mobile networks in 284 cities with more than 200,000 base stations. Minister of Industry and Information Technology, Li Yizhong said the country’s three 3G networks would be able to support 150 million subscribers by 2011.

   

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China Unicom plans to spend $1.5Bn on 3G network in next two years (China)

On 11.20.08, In Mobile, By Editor

China Unicom plans an expenditure of $1.5Bn in next two years to build and develop the 3G network. Chairman Chang Xiaobing, China Unicom, expects the roll out of 3G services will offer new opportunities for growth by helping Chinese operators expand their service portfolio.
Though the Beijing 3G licence is on cards, the Chairman expects the country to speed up the issueing of 3G licences, and hopes to recieve the licence by year end.
After it launches W-CDMA licence, it’ll expand its investment in 3G in order to acquire a greater mobile market share. “In the year of 2009-2010 our capital expenditure on 3G mobile business will reach an estimated 10 billion RMB,” he said.
According to Chang, the wide adoption of W-CDMA and its developed industry chain will give Unicom an advantage in developing 3G business and compete against its rivals in China’s 3G market.

   

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RIM gets clearance to sell BlackBerry in China

On 07.06.07, In Mobile, By Editor

Research in Motion has received clearance to sell its popular BlackBerry device in China after eight years of trying.

The Canadian-based company says it is finalizing the delivery of its products there.

RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie, speaking on a conference call with analysts last week, said the company was planning to serve corporate customers in key Chinese cities including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

RIM’s move into China comes as it competes in the US with Apple’s heavily hyped iPhone, which began selling in the US last week. The iPhone can handle phone calls, email, Web browsing, music and videos.

A manager in RIM’s Beijing office was quoted on Wednesday as saying RIM expects to start selling its 8700g handset in Chinese shops at the end of next month and has already received 5,000 advance orders.

Balsillie says they will continue to strengthen their relationship with China Mobile and they plan to increase BlackBerry awareness in China. The BlackBerry already sells in India and Japan.

The company said BlackBerry subscriber accounts grew by about 1.2 million during the first quarter for a total of 9.2 million.

RIM stock has surged 26% since the company announced first-quarter earnings grew 73% thanks to increased sales and subscriber additions, many of them international subscribers.

   

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