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Egypt Telecom News
Orascom Telecom offers to buy back 10.3pc of
shares (From
the Oman
Daily Observer, April 18, 2008)
CAIRO - Egypt-based mobile phone operator Orascom
Telecom (OT) Orascom Telecom (OT) said yesterday it was offering to buy
back 10.3 per cent of its own shares at 83 Egyptian pounds ($15.31) a share.
The offer also applies to the company's London-based GDRs, for which the
price is equivalent to $76.50 at the current exchange rate, it said. Each
GDR is equivalent to five ordinary shares.
OTOT shares jumped 8.7 per cent to a high of 81.4
pounds a share in early trading on the Egyptian stock exchange. They then
slipped back to about 79.50 pounds, up 6.2 per cent. OTOT said it was
offering the buyback because it had a large cash surplus and could not find
attractive alternative investments. "The company feels that buying its
own shares is the best way to use such amounts," it added.
The offer is for up to 106 million shares, giving
the buyback transactions a potential cumulative value of 8.798 billion
Egyptian pounds. The offer will expire on May 14 at 5 pm New York time (2100 GMT) but could be
extended, the company said. Amr el Alfy, head of research at CIBC brokerage,
said he thought the stock was undervalued, so a buyback was timely. CIBC
gives the stock a fair value of 94 pounds a share before the buyback, excluding
the company's expansion into North Korea. Taking North Korea
operations into account, the price should be up to 100 pounds a share, Alfy
added.
France Telecom, five others eye Egypt
license (March
18, 2008)
CAIRO
(Reuters) - France Telecom has expressed interest in buying Egypt's second
fixed-line license, joining five Arab companies that are also interested,
Egypt's telecom regulator said on Tuesday.
A spokesman for the National Telecom Regulatory
Authority said France Telecom had bought a booklet of conditions for the
sale of the telecom license on Monday.
The other five companies that have expressed
interest are Orascom Telecom , Egypt's
Alkan, Egypt's Giza Systems, Abu
Dhabi-based Etisalat , and Saudi's Atheeb group, the NTRA spokesman said.
The telecom regulator has said it would auction
the license on June 19, bringing Egypt
one step closer to ending the monopoly of state-run Telecom Egypt , currently the country's sole fixed-line operator.
Etisalat led a group of investors that paid $2.9
billion to become Egypt's
third mobile operator in 2006, with the right to offer higher-bandwidth 3G
technology in the most populous Arab country.
Orascom Telecom refinances $2.5 billion debt
facility (From
Cellular News, March 3, 2008)
- Eygpt based, Orascom Telecom has agreed to
refinance a tranch of its debt with a new US$2.5 billion five-year debt
facility with 12 Egyptian and international banks. The company said that the
Facility will be used to refinance the outstanding amounts under the
company’s existing US$ 2.5bn jumbo facilities and for general
corporate purposes.
Aldo Mareuse, Group Chief Financial Officer of
Orascom Telecom, commented "The new facility will provide long term
financing that will allow the Company to evaluate investment opportunities
on a disciplined basis, or continue to return capital to its shareholder's
in light of favourable relative market valuations. The committed facility
provides greater financial flexibility for the continued development of our
fast growing businesses and creates a simpler and more transparent capital
structure".
The 12 banks that have committed to underwrite
the facility are Banque Misr, Barclays Capital, BNP Paribas, Calyon, HSBC
Bank Egypt, ING Bank N.V., JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., Mashreqbank
psc, National Bank of Egypt, Standard Bank PLC, Standard Chartered Bank and
WestLB AG.
Last December, Standard & Poor's Rating
Services affirmed its long-term 'B+' corporate credit ratings on Orascom
Telecom and related finance subsidiary Orascom Telecom Finance. The outlook
was stable.
The affirmation followed the announcements of
Orascom's sale of 100% of Iraq-based subsidiary Iraqna Company for Mobile
Services (Iraqna) for $1.2 billion and its 14.2% remaining stake in
Hutchison Telecommunications International, which over time will boost
Orascom's liquidity, following completion and receipt of funds.
Telecom Egypt says sells stakes in
Internet firms (February 7, 2008)
CAIRO (Reuters) - Telecom Egypt,
Egypt's state-run
fixed-line operator, said on Thursday it has agreed to sell its minority
stakes in two Internet service providers to mobile phone operator Etisalat Egypt.
Telecom Egypt
said in a statement Etisalat Egypt, a unit of of the
UAE-based Emirates Telecommunications Corp ETEL.AD, will buy 27.3 percent
of Nile Online and 16.5 percent of the Egyptian Company for Networks
(EgyNet).
The company did not disclose the value of the
deal, which it said would be carried out before March 31.
Telecom Egypt also owns TE Data, the
country's biggest Internet service provider. Telecom Egypt will lose its monopoly
over fixed-line telephones when the government auctions a second license in
2008. Etisalat has said it would bid for the license.
France Telecom inaugurates Cairo Orange Labs (January 6, 2008)
- Didier Lombard, Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer of France Telecom Orange Group inaugurated the Group's 18th Orange
Labs in Cairo,
in the presence of Tarek Kamel, the Egyptian Communications and Information
Minister.
The creation of the Cairo Orange Labs allows
France Telecom Group to expand its presence in Egypt, a country where France
Telecom is present since 1998 through Mobinil and Orange Business Services.
France Telecom is the main shareholder of
Mobinil, which is the first mobile operator in Egypt with more than 14 million
customers. Orange Business Services, dedicated to communication services to
multinational companies has 1500 engineers in Cairo and is serving approximately 150
multinational companies, as well as around 50 airlines. With the new Cairo
Orange Labs, the Group now has 18 Orange Labs around the world.
The Cairo Orange Labs, in collaboration with the
global Orange Labs network, enhances the Group's capacity to deliver
innovative services to its customers, especially in the Middle East Africa
region. The Cairo Orange Labs is also a unique opportunity to create
partnerships with the local ecosystem.
The main research and development work will focus
on the following subjects: development of global solutions for the Group;
ergonomics for products and services on the multinational business market
and the local retail market; voice services and content access in Arabic;
usages and services for the region; research into local uses; network
solutions set against specific economic and environmental constraints.
By the end of 2008, the Cairo Orange Labs will
employ 50 people, with over 90% Egyptians.
In order to integrate this new Orange Labs into
the local ecosystem, the laboratories have been set up to the west of Cairo, in the 'Smart Village'
technology hub, which is home to various companies from the IT and telecoms
sector as well as various public organizations (Telecommunications
Ministry, National Telecommunications Institute, etc.).
Egypt's Orascom hints at sale of
Iraqi telecom unit after sour deal (August
20, 2007)
Cairo (Reuters) - Egypt's Orascom Telecom said on
Sunday it may sell its Iraqi subsidiary after it dropped out of a race for
a long-term mobile license in the war-torn country.
Orascom also said it would not submit another bid
to acquire Egyptian communications and technology firm Raya after the firm
rejected its first offer.
Orascom, which had operated the subsidiary,
called Iraqna, under a short-term licence after the invasion in 2003, said
the $1.25 billion price and 18 per cent revenue sharing for a longer-term
licence in Iraq
were too high.
Iraq sold three 15-year mobile licences for $3.75
billion to Kuwait's
Mobile Telecommunications, Asiacell and Korek last week.
Orascom had invested almost $300 million in
Iraqna, which accounted for about 11 per cent of its revenues, said Walaa
Hazem, telecom analyst at HC Securities in Cairo.
Orascom ends talks over Brasil Telecom stake (June 14, 2007)
LONDON (Reuters) - Egyptian telecom operator Orascom
Telecom said on Thursday it was no longer in talks to buy Telecom Italia's
stake in Brasil Telecom.
Orascom said in March it had expressed an
interest in the stake.
It said, however, that it would continue to
pursue acquisitions in emerging markets.
Etisalat-led group signs $2.88b deal (From Khaleej Times, August 23,
2006)
ABU DHABI - An Etisalat-led consortium yesterday signed a
Dh10.6 billion ($2.88 billion) deal for Egypt's third mobile
network and will operate 2G and 3G services.
National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority
(NTRA) and Etisalat consortium, which recently won the NTRA bid against
nine strong European, African, Arab and Asian consortium, signed the
contract.
Dr Amr Badawi, NTRA Director, and Engineer
Mohammed Hassan Omran, Emirates Telecommunications Corporation Chairman,
inked the document on behalf of their respective organizations.
Dr Ahmed Nazif, Prime Minister of Egypt, along
with Dr Tarek Kamel Minister of Telecommunications and Information
Technology, witnessed the signing of the third mobile network license
contract.
Engineer Alaa Fahmy, Egypt Post Chairman;
Engineer Hussein AbdulAziz, NBE President; and Hisham Ezz El Arab, CIB
Chairman and Managing Director, were also present on the occasion.
Etisalat-led consortium also includes three
Egyptian majors and long-standing postal and banking institutions namely Egypt
Post (EP), The National Bank of Egypt (NBE) and the Commercial International
Bank (CIB). Etisalat holds 66 per cent shares in the consortium while the
three Egyptian partners keep the remaining 34 per cent.
"Etisalat consortium intends to compete
strongly in the Egyptian mobile market and to translate its current success
in many other markets such as UAE and KSA into work patterns and innovative
services for the benefit of all Egyptian community," said Engr.
Mohammed Hassan Omran, Chairman of Etisalat.
He also pointed out that Etisalat has achieved
highest record rates of mobile phone penetration in the UAE exceeding 100
per cent, which is one of the highest internationally.
'Mobily' company in Saudi Arabia,
in which Etisalat owns a majority share, is also the fastest growing mobile
company worldwide according to the International Telecom Union (ITU)
classification.
Engr. Saleh El Abdooli has been selected as the
CEO of the third mobile network. He will undertake the formulation of the
main policies, develop plans and sign contracts
and agreements.
Engineer Omran also pointed out that,
"Etisalat has sufficient financial liquidity for financing all its
projects in Egypt
and other regional markets. It also signed an agreement a few weeks ago
with 22 of the largest UAE and international banks to receive $3 billion in
credit facilities."
He also added that company will benefit from such
funding in meeting future partnership requirements, investment
opportunities and regional expansion plans, including the establishment and
operation of the third mobile network in Egypt.
Regarding the offers that Etisalat has received
from some parties to buy some of its shares in the third mobile license,
Mohammed Omran emphasized that the company has indeed received several
offers but has no intention of selling any of its shares.
"Etisalat's main objective in this stage is
to build one of the strongest and most advanced networks in the region in
cooperation with its current three partners," he maintained.
As for the steps that will follow the signing of
the license contract with the NTRA, Engr. Omran explained that it would
include the establishment of the company as the first step, followed by
identifying an appropriate location, selecting the board members, and
appointing managerial staff for the technical, financial, marketing,
customer service and other major departments. "Establishing the
network infrastructure will start once the consortium receives the license.
These will begin by setting up exchange centers, base stations, control
centers and connection points with land line network and other operators.
Once the NTRA sets network operation frequencies, network equipment and
devices commissioning, which is expected to take up to maximum 4-8 weeks,
Etisalat will start immediately all preparations for the actual public
operation and service launch, said Omran.
Saleh El Abdooli explained that the launch of the
2G services would take place during the first stage of operations,
providing both post-paid and prepaid customers nationwide with mobile
telecommunication and SMS services.
He also stated that any subscriber with a mobile
line starting with the code (011) would be able to make phone calls and use
all services available on the network after launching the services in the
first quarter of 2007.
He added that this would be followed by expanding
coverage to other governorates respectively while working on the launching
of 3G services in a number of areas nationwide.
He mentioned that such services shall include
high speed internet access, TV broadcasting on mobile phones, video phone
calls, multimedia services and other advanced services that meet the
Egyptian market's needs and requirements.
etisalat eyes international license in Egypt
(From Gulf
News, August 17, 2006)
Dubai - The etisalat-led consortium, which recently
won the third mobile license in Egypt, is currently in
negotiations with the Egyptian National Telecommunications Regulatory
Authority (NTRA) to obtain an international telecommunication service
license, a top etisalat official said.
Mohammad Omran, chairman of etisalat, told Gulf
News that the telecom major will take part in a tender for the license, to
be conducted by the Egyptian government, in the last quarter of this year. etisalat's bid in this auction will compete with
international, regional, and local companies to win this license,"
Omran said.
A consortium led by etisalat, which includes
Egypt Post, Al Ahli Bank and the Commercial International Bank (CIB),
offered 16.7 billion Egyptian pounds, beating eight international
telecommunication consortiums last month to win the third mobile license in
Egypt.
"etisalat decided
to name its new company in Egypt
"Nile Telecom", which will operate the third mobile network in Egypt,
along with Mobinile and Vodaphone," he said.
He added that etisalat, which holds 66 per cent
stake in the new company, has no intention of selling any of its shares.
"etisalat will have
six seats in the new company's board of directors, which is equivalent to
two-thirds of the board's nine seats," he added.
The Al Ahli bank-Egypt said in a statement that a
bank account was set in the name of the winning consortium to pay the cost
of the mobile license to the account of the Egyptian National
Telecommunications Regulatory Authority.
The bank stated that the consortium authorized
etisalat to sign the contract as the largest investor in the consortium.
etisalat will sign the final contract with the Egyptian
government. Dr Ahmad Najeeb, the Egyptian Prime Minister, will attend the
official ceremony next Monday in Cairo.
Etisalat gets dialing code for Egypt operations (From The
Gulf News, July 10, 2006)
Dubai - Etisalat has been granted a 011 code by the
Egyptian Telecommunication Regulatory Authority to start offering its
mobile telephone services in Egypt, in preparation
to enter the market next February.
Etisalat recently won a bid to operate a third
mobile network in Egypt
for Dh10.6 billion.
Etisalat is expected to name the president of its
Cairo operation, who was chosen in
the board of directors' meeting in Abu Dhabi yesterday. During the meeting,
the board also approved the company's half-yearly earnings and dividends.
An Etisalat official said the company will garner
millions of subscribers in Egypt,
the UAE and Saudi
Arabia, through offering international
roaming service by utilizing its networks in the three countries.
The source added "connecting these three
countries will attract millions of new subscribers, especially in Egypt,
with the possibility of the subscribers' transfer from one network to the
other with the same telephone number.
"Licensing rules in the two rival companies
allow Mobinil and Vodaphone subscribers to keep their numbers when moving
from one company to another, to guarantee that the subscribers get the best
offers and prices without the need to change their numbers," the
official said.
The source also added that this agreement will
allow the third mobile company to grow and get an
significant number of users by the beginning of next year.
He added that the agreement holds the two
companies to offer the local roaming service outside big cities, at the
same time the third company will start operating at the latest.
Etisalat will use over 3,600 of the Egyptian Post
Service Authority bureaus, its partner in the alliance, in marketing,
distributing and paying bills throughout Egypt.
The official added, "The new company will
function initially in some locations and key cities, such as Cairo, Alexandria, Ghardaqa and Sharm Al Shaikh,
moving to a comprehensive coverage in a few months."
"The expected return of the new Etisalat
company ranges between 5.5 and 9.5 per cent in the first phase" said
Dr Ahmad Shirbini of the National Telecommunication Institute in Egypt.
He also expected that Etisalat will take over 25
per cent of the telecom market in Egypt during the first
five years of its operations
He added that the number of subscribers will
exceed 35 million people, with a penetration of 38.6 per cent, double the
current number of 15 million.
UAE's Etisalat is granted third
mobile license in Egypt
(July 4, 2006)
CAIRO (AFP) - A United Arab Emirates-Egyptian
partnership was granted the third mobile telephone network license in Egypt,
officials said.
The offer by United Arab Emirates telecom operator
Etisalat, in partnership with the Egyptian Postal Authority, the National
Bank of Egypt
and the Commercial International Bank (CIB), is worth 16.7 billion Egyptian
pounds (2.9 billion dollars), almost eight times the minimum offer, Amr
Badawi, an official from the telecommunications ministry, told reporters.
"The contract will be
signed next month and the network will be launched in February,"
Communications Minister Tarek Kamel told reporters after the announcement,
adding that Etisalat would control 70 percent of the consortium and the
Egyptian partners 30 percent.
Two network operators,
Vodaphone and Mobinil, currently operate in Egypt.
The third network will see the
number of mobile phone subscribers go from 15 million to 35 million in the
next four or five years, according to Badawi.
The consortium headed by
Etisalat will gain 20 to 25 percent of the market share, he predicted.
For his part, Prime Minister
Ahmed Nazif said the tight competition between the companies was a "clear
message showing international confidence in the Egyptian economy."
Nazif said that the choice was
made transparently, with sealed offers opened at the ministry of
communication in Egypt's
Smart Village, a high-tech city on the
outskirts of Cairo.
Revenues from the sale will go
to the public treasury, said Nazif, adding that they would "support
the state budget and will be invested in development projects."
Mohammed Hassan Omran,
chairman of Etisalat, said "the winning partnership is committed to offering
high quality service on the highest levels to serve Egyptian clients."
"Etisalat is focused on
achieving its expansion goals to become the driving force for change in the
region's telecom sector," Omran said in a statement.
The winning bidders will offer
GSM and third generation technology, the statement said.
The third mobile network will
offer "many benefits to customers ... with improved prices and choices
for customers, better coverage in the country and the use of the latest
technology available in the world," said Omran adding that the network
will provide many job opportunities for Egyptians.
Etisalat was chosen from among
nine European, African, Arab, Asian and local companies that had presented
bids.
In May, eleven candidates,
including EgyptTelecom, Telecom Italia, Kuwait's MTC, Turkcell of Turkey,
South Africa's MTN and Russia's MTS all presented bids for the mobile
license.
The decision in May 2003 to
grant a license to a third mobile network prompted the two current
operators -- Vodafone and Mobinil -- to propose a payment of 300 million
dollars to EgyptTelecom to stave off the arrival of a competitor until
2007.
But parliament's transport and
communications committee opposed the idea, affirming the need to put an end
to the existing duopoly.
Rumors of a win by the
Etisalat-led consortium sparked a 6.0 percent rise in shares of CIB on
Tuesday, the official news agency MENA reported.
At the same time, other
Egyptian companies who had participated in the offer saw their shares dip between
1.5 to 4.6 percent.
Etisalat heads a consortium
that operates the second mobile telephone network in Saudi Arabia and has shares in
several operators in Africa.
In 2005, the UAE company saw a
25 percent increase in net profit to 4.3 billion dirhams (1.17 billion
dollars).
STC bids for Egypt license (From
Arab News, May 5, 2006)
- The
Saudi Telecom Company (STC) is leading an international consortium to bid
for the third mobile license in Egypt.
STC President Saud Daweesh announced
that Saudi Telecom signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with BICO
— Egyptian investment company and TMI — Malaysia Telecom company to bid for Egypt's
third operator mobile license.
The Egypt government's sale
of a third mobile license will allow a new entrant into a market dominated
by MobiNil. As a regional telecommunication market leader and one of the
top 15 telecommunications operators worldwide, STC decided to bid for Egypt's
third mobile license. STC's long experience in leading the Kingdom's
telecommunication industry since 1998, and currently having over 12 million
mobile customers, undeniably puts the company forward as a strong candidate
for the license.
"The alliance with BICO
— one of the biggest Egyptian investment companies with over 30 years
wide scope of work experience in the Egyptian market, will enable STC to
address Egypt
third mobile license requirements and standards made by the Egyptian
national telecommunication authority," said Daweesh.
Qatar Telecom, Naeem to bid for Egypt
mobile tender (April
13, 2006)
CAIRO (Dow Jones) - Qatar Telecom, or Qtel, has teamed
up with Egyptian Naeem Holding Co. to bid for Egypt's third mobile
network license, Al Alam Al Youm newspaper reported Thursday.
The privately-owned business daily said vice
chairman of the board of Qtel Mohamed Bin Sohaim Al-Thani had signed a deal
with Ahmed Naeem, board member of Naeem Holding.
This comes after Qtel signed up with Singapore
Technologies Telemedia for the bid last week.
ST Telemedia, a unit of Singapore's state-owned
investment company Temasek Holdings Pte. Ltd.,
formed a joint venture with Qtel that will be majority owned by the Qatar
company.
Naeem Holding Co. operates in Egypt, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia in the field
of direct investment, funding and securities.
Qtel will continue to hold a majority stake in
the partnership after the new deal.
The paper also reported that state-owned Banque
Misr, Egypt's
second largest bank, had teamed up with Turkey's Turkcell for
the bid.
Another state-owned bank, The National Bank of Egypt,
had entered into an alliance with Emirates Telecommunications Corp., or
Etisalat, a few days ago for the same purpose, reported the paper.
Egypt is currently receiving offers for its third
mobile license bid, which ends May 4. Offers from international companies
who have local partners and firms willing to trade a portion of the shares
on the Cairo
and Alexandria Stock Exchange after two years of operation will be favored,
according to the terms.
Egypt currently has two mobile operators - Vodafone
Egypt Telecommunications and Egyptian Company for Mobile Services, or
MobiNil.
Vodafone Group PLC owns 50% of Vodafone Egypt while MobiNil's shareholders
include Egypt's
Orascom Telecom Holding and Orange,
which is a unit of France Telecom.
An estimated 19 companies and consortia are vying
for Egypt's
third mobile telephone license.
Egypt's Orascom offers $256 million
for Nigerian telecom firm (December 31, 2005)
(MENAFN) - Egypt's Orascom Telecom was the top
bidder for a 51 percent stake in Nigerian state telecoms firm Nitel,
according to a statement issued by the Nigerian government, however, it
added that Orascom's $256.5 million offer missed its expectations, Reuters
reported.
Nigeria's second attempt to sell Nitel is part of the
government's free-market reforms, but the process has been marred by delays
and confusion about whether a key asset was included.
Orascom and little-known Newtel, which bid nearly
$155 million, were the only two suitors left for loss-making Nitel after
four other short listed bidders dropped out.
Nigeria, one of the world's fastest-growing telecoms
markets, has attracted keen interest from foreign investors, but most of
the growth has come from private mobile operators while Nitel is
predominantly a fixed-line business.
The number of telephone lines has grown to 17
million from 500,000 in 1999, and with Nigeria's population of
140 million the potential for further growth is massive.
Israel to study reports on indirect
Egyptian shareholder in local mobile operator (From Mena Report, December 26, 2005)
- The Israeli Communications Ministry has said it
is studying reports that local mobile operator - Partner Communications
(operates under the Orange brand name) -
has a new indirect shareholder -the Egyptian company Orascom.
The largest mobile-phone operator in the Middle East announced last week that it is buying a
19.3 percent stake in Hutchison Telecommunications International, which
controls Partner. Orascom agreed to pay $1.3 billion for the stake in
Hutchison, which owns 52 percent of Partner.
According to Haaretz newspaper, Israel imposes certain
restrictions on telecom firms ownership due to
"security reasons." In the past, Israel's Shin Bet
security agency was tightly involved in the privatization process of the
leading Israeli telecom firm (Bezeq), trying to ensure that foreign owners
would not have business dealings in the Arab world.
Partner is one of Israel's biggest
communications players, serving 2.5 million users, say a third of the
population.
Orascom Telecom (“OTH”) was
established in 1998 and has grown to become a major player in the global
telecommunication market. OTH is
considered among the largest and most diversified network operators in the
Middle East, Africa and Pakistan. It is a leading
mobile telecommunications company operating in seven emerging markets in
the Middle East, Africa and South Asia
having a population under license of 460 million in total population with
an average penetration of mobile telephony rate across all markets of
11.5%.
Orascom Telecom operates GSM networks in Algeria
("Djezzy"), Egypt ("MobiNil"), Pakistan
("Mobilink"), Iraq ("IraQna"), Bangladesh
("Banglalink"), Tunisia ("Tunisiana") and Zimbabwe
(“Telecel Zimbabwe”).
Orascom Telecom subscriber number reached over 25.5 million
subscribers as of September, 2005.
Third
Bangladesh
telecom firm hits million subscriber mark (December 20, 2005)
DHAKA (AFP) - Egyptian
telecom firm Orascom announced its Bangladesh mobile unit
had become the third company to cross the million subscriber mark amid a
war for customers in one of the world's poorer nations.
The announcement by
Orascom -- whose subsidiary, Banglalink, opened 10 months ago -- came one
month after top mobile company GrameenPhone signed up a million subscribers
in a record 40 days after taking six years to reach its first million in
2003.
"This is a
tremendous achievement," Orascom chairman Naguib Sawaris said in a
statement.
There are now around
nine million mobile phone users in Bangladesh and analysts
say growth in the country of 140 million people will remain explosive.
"Market
penetration is only around five per cent. It's nothing compared to its true
potential. The market can easily grow up to 70 million subscribers,"
telecom consultant Abu Sayeed Khan said, noting some people were taking
multiple connections.
Growth now is being
driven by mobile phone companies cutting costs to take in millions of
poorer people, phone company executives say.
To celebrate its feat,
Banglalink unveiled a sales package cutting connection costs to 132 takas
(two dollars), the lowest since mobile phones hit Bangladesh in the early
1990s.
Sawaris said the offer
will help the company add three million more subscribers next year in a
country where nearly half the population lives on less than a dollar a day.
GrameenPhone, owned by
Norway's
Telenor, now has over five million subscribers or 60 percent of the market
after more than doubling its subscriber base in 11 months, said company
general manager Syed Yamin Bakht.
Tariff cuts ranging
from 20 to 60 percent and a subsidized sales campaign during Islam's
biggest annual festival of Eid-al Fitr in the Muslim nation fuelled the
latest growth spurt, Bakht said.
Aside from Grameen
which is the largest firm, there is AKTel, part of Telekom Malaysia
in second place. Orascom is third largest while SingTel-owned Pacific
Bangladesh Telecom is ranked fourth. The smallest operator is state-owned
Teletalk Bangladesh.
Company officials
forecast the market will double to around 18 million next year as most
leading firms have expanded their network to the remotest parts of the
country, bringing 90 per cent of the population under network coverage.
"We've witnessed
the best year in the country's telecom history as nearly six million
telecom subscribers were added in 2005," said a top official of a
leading mobile phone company, who wished to remain unnamed.
"After years of
slow growth, we can now say Bangladesh is a very healthy
market. Things are gathering momentum," he said.
Telecom Egypt selects
Ericsson-Cisco solution to upgrade fixed network (From Mena Report, October 30,
2005)
- Telecom Egypt (TE) has chosen Ericsson in
cooperation with Cisco Systems, as one of the suppliers to upgrade its
fixed network to a carrier-class, Internet Protocol (IP) Next Generation
Network.
The deal, which will address both classic
telephony and new multimedia services, is an essential element in TE's
mission to become Egypt's
'best total solution communication provider.'
According to the contract, Ericsson will upgrade
parts of Telecom Egypt's
core network of circuit-switched technology, based on AXE-10 exchanges,
with a future-proof, IP Telephony Softswitch solution. The solution, based
on the combination of Ericsson's Telephony Softswitch solution and Cisco's
12000 Series routers, allows Telecom Egypt to migrate its
Public Switched Telephony Network (PSTN) to a Voice over IP network with
minimal risk while building a platform for new IP-based services. Ericsson
will provide end-to-end integration of the Ericsson-Cisco solution and
related support services.
With this contract, Telecom Egypt is taking the
first step towards establishing a single IP core network, including
interoperability between softswitches and the consolidation of
carrier-class services.
The Ericsson-Cisco solution will cover a part of
the fixed-telephony network, including local and transit network layers.
Dawlat El Badawi, Deputy Chairman for Planning at
Telecom Egypt,
said: "Upgrading our network to IP will give us the ability to deliver
new and innovative services to our customers and to increase our
competitiveness in the market while re-using our existing
infrastructure."
Johan Lallerstedt, Head of Ericsson Egypt, says: "One reason why
Telecom Egypt
opted for the Ericsson-Cisco solution is that it will help speed customer
adoption of more efficient and profitable multi-service networks. The
capacity and scale of the Telephony Softswitch solution also allows large
cost savings through network consolidation."
Yasser Elkady, Cisco Systems' General Manager,
Middle East - North Africa and Levant Region, says: "We're delighted
that the industry-leading strengths of Ericsson and Cisco will help Telecom
Egypt
to realize the tremendous opportunities presented by an IP Next Generation
Network for its operation and its customers."
The Ericsson-Cisco solution gives Telecom Egypt
a secure migration path along which they can evolve their circuit-switched
network to a multi-service network. It is capable of carrying large and
growing volumes of voice and data traffic and enables integrated
traditional fixed telephony with IP-based broadband traffic on a single
network.
Italian Enel agrees to sell Wind to Egypt's
Sawiris (May
27, 2005)
Milan (Reuters) -
Italian utility Enel has signed a long-awaited deal to sell its telecoms
unit Wind to a firm controlled by Egyptian businessman Naguib Sawiris,
valuing Wind at 12.14 billion euros (Dh57.02 billion).
Italy's biggest
utility said in a statement yesterday it would raise 3 billion euros and
deconsolidate Wind's debt of more than 7 billion euros in the deal, which
is likely to boost Enel's dividend.
Enel has long wanted to sell
loss-making Wind Italy's
number three mobile phone group and second largest fixed-line provider and
has been in exclusive talks with Sawiris's Weather Investments company
since April. It plans to sell 62.75 per cent of Wind to the Weather
Investments company by the summer and the rest in the first half of 2006
under a put and call agreement. Sawiris will transfer just over half of his
family's Egyptian telecoms group Orascom to Weather.
"With the sale of Wind we have completed
the disposal of all businesses unrelated to our core activities in
electricity and gas, in accordance with the strategy announced three years
ago," Enel's outgoing CEO Paolo Scaroni said in a statement.
Scaroni is leaving the group to join
Italian state oil and gas group Eni.
But Enel will not quit the telecoms
business. It plans gradually to acquire a 26 per cent stake in Weather,
which in turn will control 100 per cent of Wind and 50 per cent plus one
share in Orascom.
Enel said Wind and Orascom wanted to
save costs through joint activity and expand their market share in telecoms
traffic to and from Europe, the
Mediterranean area and other countries where Orascom is a leader. Orascom
is currently active in the Middle East.
Enel said it would use 305 million
euros of the proceeds from the Wind sale to buy a 5.3 per cent stake in
Weather.
Enel will then raise that stake as
Weather pays for the remaining 37.25 per cent of Wind, worth 328 million
euros, in cash and its own new shares. The utility and Sawiris aim to list
Weather as soon as possible, depending on market conditions.
Telecom
Egypt
expected to issue bond (December 28, 2004)
(MENAFN) - Telecom Egypt
chief financial officer said that the firm expects to announce a public
subscription for a corporate bond issue worth $321 million, Reuters
reported.
Telecom Egypt
originally planned to sell the bonds in October but postponed the issue to
December. It said at the time that the delay would ensure it secured better
rates.
The bonds are expected to have a maturity of either five or seven years and
will be the biggest ever-corporate issue in Egyptian currency.
Orascom to invest 250 mln dlrs in Bangladesh mobile phone
market (October 22, 2004)
Dhaka (AFP) - Egyptian telecom company Orascom
has taken over Bangladesh's
Sheba Telecom and plans to invest 250 million dollars to boost coverage and
create nearly four million new subscribers.
"Orascom has purchased a 100
percent stake in Sheba telecom company at a cost of 50 million dollars and
intends to invest 250 million dollars to widen its coverage," Sheba
Telecom spokesman Mahbub Alam Bhuiyan said Thursday.
The company will become one of four
mobile phone operators in Bangladesh. "They will
start investing the 250 million dollars as soon as the government creates a
fair playing field for all cellular phone operators in Bangladesh,"
Bhuiyan told reporters.
Orascom wants access to the 1800 MHz
frequency which would allow it to provide greater coverage across the country.
The frequency is already being used by two competitors.
The company, which will rebrand Sheba
Telecom as "Banglalink", has inherited Shebas 60,000 clients.
It aims to boost that number to four million within two years.
The company already has operations in Algeria, Pakistan, Tunisia
and Iraq.
Bhuiyan added that Orascom saw Bangladesh,
a country of 140 million people, as an attractive market due to its large
and concentrated population.
Mobile phone use was relatively low but
subscriber numbers were increasing rapidly rate, Bhuiyan said.
Bangladesh has only
950,000 land phone lines and some 2.5 million mobile phone subscribers.
Mobile phones first became available in Bangladesh in 1998.
Mobile Systems International
sells 3.8 million shares of Vodafone Egypt (August 25, 2004)
(MENAFN) - Mobile Systems
International (MSI) sold 3.8 million shares of Vodafone Egypt
Telecommunications, equivalent to 1.6 percent of Vodafone's total
outstanding shares to a group of Saudi investors, thereby reducing MSI
ownership to approximately 3 percent, LiquidAfrica reported.
The deal was executed at EGP36.05 ($5.8) per share, with a value pertaining
to EGP140.6 million ($22.78 million).
Orascom Telecom earns $190
million in first half (August 24, 2004)
(MENAFN) - Orascom Telecom (OT)
posted net profits of EGP1.2 billion ($190 million) for the first half of
the year, compared with EGP137.1 million ($22 million) in the same period a
year earlier, representing an 8 fold increase.
EBITDA grew more than two fold to EGP2.9 billion ($460 million) while
depreciation and amortization rose 33 percent to EGP826.6 million ($132.6
million). Earnings before interest and tax increased more than three fold
to EGP2.1 billion ($337 million).
On the other hand interest revenue fell by 50 percent to EGP35.9 million
($5.7 million), while gains from sale of investments dropped 21 percent to
EGP141.6 million ($22.7 million).
Vodafone Egypt earns $174
million in 2003-04 (May 10, 2004)
(MENAFN) - Vodafone Egypt, part
of Britain's
Vodafone Group PLC, more than doubled its 2003/4 net profit to EGP1.08
billion ($174 million) from EGP511 million ($82.8 million) in 2002/3,
Reuters reported.
An official at the company was quoted as saying that total revenues grew to
EGP3.29 billion ($533 million) in the same period that ended March 2004,
from EGP2.19 billion ($350 million) in 2002/3.
Orascom Telecom disposal of West
African GSM (February
10, 2004)
(MENAFN) - Orascom Telecom
Holding S.A.E. (OTH) announces the sale of its controlling 51.7 percent
equity stake in Ivory
Coasts leading GSM services business,
Telecel Loteny (TL), for $45 million in cash. As a result, OTH consolidated
net debt would decrease by over $140 million pro forma for the completed
sale. The divestiture advances OTHs announced program to strengthen its
financial profile and streamline its geographic presence.
OTH acquired its stake in TL through its ownership in Telecel International
Limited (Telecel) in April 2000, and grew TLs subscriber base from 155,000
subscribers to 599,000, ending on December 2003, a 386 percent increase in
4 years. This achievement was made despite the political turmoil in Ivory Coast that took place over the
last 2 years, and managed to maintain an equal market share with its main
competitor Orange.
OTHs 100 percent owned subsidiary Telecel agreed to sell its entire stake
in Telecel Loteny.
In addition, the purchaser has committed to a renewable three year
licensing agreement for the use and maintenance of Telecel licenses and
trademarks. The transaction is expected to be completed upon receipt of
third party consents within ninety days. After completion of the sale, OTH
will continue to hold four sub-Sahara GSM mobile services operations in the
Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo Brazzaville, |
