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UAE Telecom News
Etisalat acquires 24% of market in Afghanistan
(From The Gulf News, March 4, 2010)
Dubai - Etisalat
Afghanistan has achieved
24 per cent market share in 27 provinces of Afghanistan, the company said
in a press release Wednesday. Etisalat Afghanistan held its first annual gathering
in Dubai. Present
at the event was Etisalat chairman Mohammad Omran and members of etisalat's
senior management.
Also present were Saeed Al Hameli, CEO of Etisalat Afghanistan and Afghan Minister
of Finance, the Chief of Telecommunications and Information Technology in
the Afghan parliament and a large number of Afghan businessmen.
"When we decided to
invest in the telecommunications sector of Afghanistan, we were aware of
the scale of the challenges and the opportunities that lie ahead, ... to supporting this country as best way we can,"
Mohammad Omran said yesterday.
Etisalat posts full-year profit of
Dh8.84 billion (From The
Gulf News, January 31, 2010)
Abu Dhabi - Emirates Telecommunications
Corporation, the
UAE's biggest phone company, posted a full-year
profit of Dh8.84 billion, according to an e-mailed company statement on
Sunday.
Etisalat posted Dh7.62 billion profit
in 2008, excluding an Dh892 million income from
the sale of shares in its Saudi unit Mobily.
"The comparative results
for the financial year 2008 have been adjusted to comply with International
Financial Reporting Standard that have been adopted for the first time in
2009 financial year," the statement said.
etisalat cuts off-peak rates for foreign
calls (From The Gulf News, March 17, 2009)
Dubai- etisalat
on Tuesday said that it plans to offer customers a reduction of 50 per cent
on off-peak rates for international calls, as competition between the
country's two telecom operators hots up.
The new International Super
Off-Peak plan will provide home fixed line customers with more savings on
off-peak calls to international destinations.
The new plan will be an
optional one for customers and will provide additional benefits of zero
rental and no activation fees, etisalat said.
The Super Off-Peak hours will
be from 1am to 7am everyday. To activate the new plan, customers can simply
call 125, or visit any of etisalat's business
outlets across the country.
In addition to the Super
Off-Peak plan, customers will also benefit during the normal off-peak hours
- from 2pm to 4pm, 9pm to 1 am on week days, and from 7am on Fridays to 1am
on Saturdays. During off-peak hours, home fixed line customers will be
saving an additional 35 per cent more than the current off peak rate.
The Super Off-Peak plan will
continue to offer competitive fixed SMS rates to international numbers at
the existing Dh0.60 per message. The national FSMS will be charged at
Dh0.30 per message.
Local calls to mobile phones
during peak hours will cost Dh0.36 per minute. For off-peak hours, the
current off-peak rate will apply to all national calls for both fixed line
and mobiles. Charges for international and national calls to fixed lines
during peak time will cost an additional 10 per cent under this new plan.
Essa Al Haddad, etisalat's chief marketing officer, said: "This
latest initiative is part of etisalat's
continuous efforts to offer an outstanding value to our customers."
etisalat to offer fastest broadband
download speed on mobile phones (From The
Gulf News, March 2, 2009)
Dubai - etisalat,
one of the region's largest telecom operators, on Monday announced it would
bring mobile broadband speed of up to 28.8Mbps for download and 18.0Mbps
for upload in the second half of this year, making it the fastest speed
globally.
During trials, it has recorded
mobile broadband download speed of 20.37Mbps, the highest experienced in
the region. The results of the trial were announced at the South Asia,
Middle East and North Africa Telecommunications Council in Beirut on Monday.
Currently the fastest mobile
broadband download speed in the world is 21Mbps, which was recorded last
month.
Gulf News reported earlier
that the operator would increase its speeds to 14.4Mbps by the end of 2008,
which is the commercial speed at the moment. The upload speed currently
goes up to 5.7 Mbps.
"Mobile broadband has an
important role to play in the Middle East
region and we will see a significant growth in uptake in services,"
said Nasser Bin Obood, chief corporate affairs
officer of etisalat.
du roaming coverage expanded to
350 networks (From The Gulf News, December 22,
2008)
Dubai - Emirates Integrated
Telecommunications Company (du) has now expanded
its roaming span to 350 networks in 125 countries, the company told Gulf
News.
The operator that began
operations in February last year has significantly added to the roaming
network number of 300 it had four months ago.
Osman Sultan, chief executive of du, said, "Few telecom companies
worldwide reach the 350 international roaming agreement mark in less than
two years of starting operations. It is a new regional benchmark and a
matter of exceptional pride for us."
While the operator is still
behind the country's first operator, etisalat,
which has roaming services in 509 networks across about 179 countries, du has plans to close the gap.
Fareed Faraidooni,
executive vice-president, Commercial at du, said,
"In days to come, we will continue to work hard to enhance our roaming
footprint to cover more destinations."
Additionally, the operator has
also activated over 200 data roaming agreements, allowing mobile internet,
data and voice calling services in many of the covered destinations as well
as around 75 3G roaming agreements, by which BlackBerry
users can continue to use the operators services while roaming.
Pre-paid roaming
"Customers should expect
to see the number of data agreements, 3G agreements and pre-paid agreements
increasing as tremendously as they increased this year," the company
said in statement.
Specifically on pre-paid
roaming, the operator is expecting to grow its number of agreements at the
same pace as experienced in the last semester of 2008. Fifty pre-paid
agreements were launched during the second half of 2008.
However, a distinction lies in
the services for the monthly plan and pay as go users. While the first can
make and receive calls in all the international networks, the latter can
only make outgoing calls in 55 networks.
At the end of the third
quarter, the operator reached profitability, a full year ahead of schedule.
A Dh31 million worth of profit
was made and the revenues for the operator increased by 157 per cent in a
year to hit Dh1 billion.
du official confirms financing
worth Dh3b (From The Gulf News, November 19,
2008)
Dubai - Emirates Integrated
Telecommunications Company, du, had secured Dh3
billion worth of financing from Dubai
banks in April, a top company executive said on Tuesday.
Osman Sultan, chief executive of du, said at Telecoms World conference that the operator
went to the debt market to support their extensive growth plans within the
UAE.
"We are a growth company.
I will not disclose any projection on market share, but we will be No 1 in
this mobile market," Sultan said, without divulging a timeline.
He said that although
profitability has to be achieved and has to fuel growth, it is not a top
priority for the operator at this stage.
Sultan said that the operator
was able to acquire the market share that it has in 19 months of operation
due to its innovative pricing, distribution and differentiated branding
scheme.
Subscribers
At the end of the third
quarter this year, the company said that the number of active subscribers
exceeded expectations, reaching two million, up from 659,000 in the same
period last year.
Meanwhile, Emirates
Telecommunication Corporation, etisalat, had
about 7 million mobile subscribers in the third quarter, increasing at a
rate of 11 per cent compared to the same period last year, according to
Othman Sultan, chief executive officer of du.
The operator has not revealed
active subscriber numbers as yet.
Sultan said it did not make sense
for the company to consider international expansion, as its plans were to
increase the scope of services within the UAE. While du
is competing one-on-one with etisalat in the UAE,
Sultan said they were prepared for challenges from more competitors.
"The Telecom Regulatory
Authority has it in its roadmap to allow more competition.
"We have been ready for
this since day one," Sultan said, admitting the difficulty it will
bring and the effect it will have on their pace of achievements.
du third-quarter profits reach
Dh31 million (From The Gulf News, November 2,
2008)
Dubai - Emirates Integrated
Telecommunications Company (du) announced on
Sunday that the company made profits of Dh31 million during the last three
months.
The telecom operator has reached
profitability after 19 months of operations, a year ahead of financial
plans announced when they started trading in February 2007.
Their total revenues at end of
September 2008 surpassed Dh1 billion for the first time, at an increase of
157 per cent since same period last year.
The earnings before interest,
tax, depreciations and amortization (EBITDA) were Dh101 million, up form a
loss of Dh186 in third quarter 2007.
The company had a net loss of
Dh242 in the third quarter last year and moved up to a loss of Dh44 million
in second quarter this year, and finally reaching Dh31 million in profits
at end of third quarter 2008.
A strong growth in subscribers
was seen in the third quarter. An additional of 453,000 subscribers
contributed to the total amounting to 2.6 million.
The company said that the
number of active subscribers exceeded expectations, reaching 2 million, up
form 659,000 in the same period last year.
The fixed line subscribers
reached 248,000, witnessing an increase of 30,000 in the quarter.
etisalat likely to acquire company in Iraq
(October 7, 2008)
Abu
Dhabi (Reuters) - Emirates Telecommunications Corp (etisalat) said on Tuesday that its planned Middle East
acquisition will be in Iraq
and that it expected "very positive" results for the third
quarter.
"It is Iraq but it
is not yet finalised. We will shortly announce
it," etisalat Chairman Mohammad Omran told Reuters on the sidelines of a news
conference, declining to give details. An etisalat
official said last month that the firm was in final-stage talks to buy a
majority stake worth up to $1 billion in a Middle East
telecoms operator this year but did not announce the country.
etisalat has been expanding
aggressively abroad, snapping up assets in countries such as Pakistan, Egypt
and India.
It operates in 16 countries.
Mobile penetration in the UAE,
which has a population of 4.5 million people, exceeds 150 per cent. Du telecom broke etisalat's
monopoly when it started operations in February 2007.
Omran said that the global
financial crisis had not impacted etisalat.
Telecom giant Etisalat staffer accused of $7.3mn graft, quits (September 9,
2008)
- A senior woman manager of UAE's
leading telecom operator, Etisalat, has been accused
of misappropriating funds amounting to Dh 27 million ($7.35 million) from
the company's account.
Following revelations the
amount is reported to have been retrieved from her bank account and the
woman was forced to resign, local media reported.
According to sources, the
accused was in charge of making salary payments to the staff. She was
allegedly able to convert regular payments from the accounts of payrolls
into her personal account in local banks, transferring two million dirhams per batch, for more than two years.
The bank then grew suspicious
after checking her monthly salary before the large sums started getting
credited to her account and sent a letter to her employer, they said.
Ahmed bin Ali, executive
vice-president for public relations in the company is reported to have said
that the woman would be referred to the Public Prosecution after the
completion of an internal investigation.
Meanwhile, an official source
at the Ministry of Justice told Khaleej Times newspaper
that Etisalat should refer its former employee to
the Public Prosecution for interrogation.
Etisalat shares fell 2.3 per cent
yesterday amidst talk of the investigation.
Etisalat to develop
Afghan telecom sector (September 8,
2008)
ABU DHABI - The United
Arab Emirates' leading telecom services provider Etisalat is concentrating its efforts on developing the
telecom industry in Afghanistan.
In this connection, a meeting was held between a
visiting high-level Afghan government delegation and Etisalat
chairman Mohammad Hassan Omran
here Sunday, the state-run Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported on Monday.
"The Ministry of Communications and IT and Etisalat are working together to develop the
communications industry in Afghanistan,"
the report quoted Omran as saying after the
meeting.
"Etisalat always
enhances the services available in any market in which it operates,"
he added. The visiting delegation included Afghanistan's communications
and IT minister A. Sangin, Finance Minister Anwarul Haq Ahady, the country's ambassador to the UAE Abdul Faried Zakaria, and Omar Zakhilwal, senior economic advisor to Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
The two sides discussed areas of cooperation between Etisalat and its subsidiary in Afghanistan.
They also discussed different services introduced in Afghanistan
since Etisalat won the fourth mobile licence in that country. The Abu Dhabi-headquartered Etisalat is one of the largest telecommunications
companies globally and the largest operator in the Arab world. It has over
64 million subscribers across 16 countries.
Etisalat Q2 profit soars 58 per cent (July 14, 2008)
Dubai - Emirates
Telecommunications Corp (Etisalat) has posted a
net profit of Dh3 billion ($817 million) in the second quarter, which is up
58.2 per cent from the first quarter this year.
The forecasts by analysts for Etisalat’s second
quarter showed a range from Dh2.03 billion to Dh3.09 billion in a survey in
June.
Etisalat, the largest Arab telecom firm by market
value, made Dh1.89 billion in the second quarter of 2007 and Dh2.12 billion
in the first quarter of 2008.
du still in talks for shared
infrastructure (From The Business Weekly, April 20,
2008)
- Discussions between the UAE's two telecom operators, Etisalat
and du, on the issue of shared infrastructure,
are said to be ongoing as initiated by the Government regulatory authority
in charge of the telecommunications sector in the country.
According to Osman Sultan, CEO of du, such
discussions, should they materialise into a
jointly developed endeavour, would benefit both
companies as it would reduce the need for duplication of investments.
He indicated that real estate
developers who are currently driving the UAE's
construction boom would likewise benefit from having just one telecommunications
infrastructure.
"I believe we have a big
opportunity to build from scratch together as two telecommunications
operators a shared land infrastructure," Sultan told The Business
Weekly. "At least in the civil works, if not in the infrastructure of
the fibre cables."
Avoiding duplication
"I think this will avoid
duplication of investment, and this will mean better benefits for the two
companies. But ultimately, it will also be better for the real estate
developers who will benefit as well from one infrastructure," he
added.
"Talks, which are ongoing
in this direction, were initiated by the authority that is regulating the
telecoms market. I think this is an excellent model and I hope we will go
fast on this," Sultan continued.
As reported by The Business
Weekly earlier, Abdulsalam Rahma
Abdulla Bastaki,
director, Information Technology at Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority under the
Government of Dubai, suggested that a third-party company be formed that
would focus only on ducting to include the necessary telecommunications
infrastructure.
In reaction to such a
suggestion, Sultan indicated that as long as it done in accordance with the
required specifications, they would not mind.
However, he also indicated
that both telecommunications operators already have the expertise and the
know-how to do such things and that a third-party company may not be
necessary.
"We would not mind
provided that these are built according to our specifications," Sultan
said. "But then, why bring in a third party when the telecom operators
know how to do this and this is their job. This is their core
business."
"Ultimately, we need to
provide service to customers, tenants and residents in these cities,"
he added.
UAE's Etisalat
posts record Q1 profit (April 17, 2008)
ABU DHABI (Reuters) - Emirates Telecommunications Corp,
the largest Arab telecom firm by market value, posted record profit in the
first quarter after adding more mobile phone users in the United Arab Emirates.
Net income in the three months
to March 31 rose 15.5 percent to 2.12 billion dirhams , or 0.35 dirhams per share, compared with 1.84 billion dirhams, or 0.31 dirhams per
share, in the year-earlier period, the state-controlled company said in a
statement on the Abu Dhabi
bourse website.
The number of mobile phone
users in the UAE, the second-largest Arab economy, rose 4 percent to 6.63
million, compared with three months earlier, Etisalat
said, without giving a year-earlier comparison.
Chief Executive Officer
Mohammed al-Qamzi told Reuters the company was
adding about 1 million mobile phone users per year in the UAE, and expected
foreign operations to contribute more to profit this year as the UAE home
market matures.
"Foreign countries will
contribute more this year," Qamzi said.
"Saudi Arabia
will lead." Full-year profit growth will exceed the 15 percent in the
first quarter, Qamzi said.
Etisalat said this week it sold 43.75
million shares in Saudi affiliate Etihad Etisalat ,
generating returns of 2.33 billion dirhams that
would be counted in the second quarter.
The sale cut its stake in the
second of Saudi Arabia's
two mobile phone operators to 26.3 percent from 35 percent.
Saudi Arabia is the world's largest oil exporter
whose economy is growing on a near six-fold increase in oil prices during
the last six years that has filled government coffers and boosted spending.
Etisalat's first-quarter results
exceeded two forecasts in a Reuters survey last
month of 1.9 billion dirhams and 2.03 billion dirhams.
SHARES RISE
Shares of the company, which
are only open to ownership by UAE nationals, were up 14.1 percent this year
to Wednesday's close. They fell 0.5 percent on Thursday, before the results
were released.
In contrast, shares of Kuwait's
Mobile Telecommunications Co , another Arab
telecom company which is expanding abroad, are down by almost 5 percent
this year.
Etisalat operates in 16 countries
including Egypt, Pakistan
and some African nations. It is looking to enter the Indian telecom market,
and has said it held talks with several companies including Spice
Communications about possibly making an acquisition.
Itsalat International plans to launch
public offering next year (From The Gulf News, December 29, 2007)
Abu
Dhabi - Itsalat International
(i2), the largest mobile phone distribution company in the Middle East and Africa with operations in as many as 23 countries,
plans to come out with an initial public offering towards the end of 2008,
one of the company's stakeholders said on Thursday.
"We propose to get i2
listed on the Saudi Tadawul Exchange. Saudi
Arabia's Capital Markets Authority will decide how much of the company
could be sold through the IPO," Dr. Karim Al
Solh, chief executive officer of the Abu
Dhabi-based regional private equity firm, Gulf Capital, told Gulf News.
Gulf Capital, the highest capitalised investment company in the UAE, bought a 15
per cent stake in the Saudi Arabia-based i2 for $150 million in July 2006
with the aim of capitalising on the boom in the
telecommunications industry, fund its expansion plans across the region and
into Africa and increase its market share by pursuing other telecom-related
ventures.
i2's current sales of 7 billion Saudi rials makes
it one of the top global players in the telecom industry. A group of five
Saudi businessmen hold within themselves 85 per cent of the company.
Etisalat to spend $1b on Nigeria
network (September 9, 2007)
NEW
YORK (Bloomberg) - Etisalat plans
to spend $1 billion building a network in Nigeria that will enable it to
compete with rivals including MTN Group Ltd.
"Nigeria has Africa's
largest population, but the penetration rate is less than 20 per cent, so
there's a lot of potential to expand our network there,'' Etisalat Chairman Mohammad Hassan
Omran said in an interview in Dubai yesterday.
State-controlled Etisalat plans to start its Nigerian unit in March and
will sign contracts with “one or two'' equipment suppliers by October, Omran said, declining to name them. The company will
spend $1 billion to construct its network through 2010, he added.
Mubadala Development Co., the
investment company owned by Abu
Dhabi's government, yesterday said Etisalat will operate its 15-year renewable Nigerian phone
licence. Mubadala in
January agreed to pay $400 million for a licence
to become Nigeria's
third fixed-line and fifth mobile-phone operator, according to the west African nation's Communications Commission.
Emirates Telecom says may double
Pakistan
stake (September
9, 2007)
DUBAI
(Reuters) - Emirates Telecommunications
Corp. (Etisalat)
said on Sunday it was considering doubling its stake in Pakistan
Telecommunications Co. to 51 percent.
"We are evaluating that
option and once we've arrived at the decision that this is positive, we
will talk to the (Pakistani) government," Chairman Mohammed Hassan Omran told Reuters. He
declined to say when the decision might be made.
Etisalat bought a 26 percent stake in
PTCL in 2005 for $2.6 billion under an agreement that gives it management
control.
Omran also said he expected Etisalat to invest at least $1 billion in Nigeria
in the first three years after the company bought a 40 percent stake in a
new Nigerian telephone operation last week.
etisalat to offer 'triple play' service
soon (From Gulf News, August 20, 2007)
Dubai - etisalat
expects to offer 'triple play' service to more than 100,000 customers this
quarter once government regulators approve its pricing scheme, its chief
executive said.
Triple play is a bundled
service delivering fixed line and high-speed TV and internet over one cable
into the home or office. It is often touted as producing cost savings to
operators and customers.
"Customers will be able
to receive state of the art technology at very high broadband speeds,"
Mohammad Al Qamzi said. "This will be
high-definition TV and internet will also be at very high speeds."
Reduced costs
The etisalat
CEO said an immediate benefit to the company would be reduced costs on
maintenance and equipment.
"This is where the future
of telecom is, where we can serve customers at a lower price and higher
bandwidth."
The product rollout will first
be offered to subscribers of etisalat's e-vision
TV service because these customers already have installed the necessary
cabling into their homes.
A pricing plan has already
been submitted to the UAE Telecommunications Regulatory Authority.
The bundling will target
higher sales of each of the three services offered, including the
unprofitable e-vision division.
The initiative is the first
step in a multi-year plan for the company, as it develops a next-generation
network composed entirely of IP-based technology.
After completing its core
network in Dubai and Abu Dhabi last year, the telecom provider
will spend the next three years installing soft switches and fibre optic cabling throughout the country, Al Qamzi said. "We are now going for the 'last mile'
- deploying fibre to the customer," he said.
The first recipients of this
high-bandwidth, all-IP network will be 27,000 residents in Abu Dhabi after etisalat successfully replaces the first of several
hundred legacy switches. The new network should debut in Abu Dhabi in two months.
The project comes at a time
when businesses and consumer are increasingly consuming higher data
traffic, the CEO said.
"Internationally, voice [revenues] are declining, but data is increasing -
that's where the growth is."
du's new service lets subscribers
monitor homes (From Gulf News, May 29, 2007)
Dubai - du
broke new ground in its bid to set itself apart from competitor etisalat yesterday, unveiling a service for subscribers
to remotely monitor their homes and offices via mobile phones.
du's HomeCam
video camera will allow subscribers to view live video feeds of their properties,
in color and with audio.
The service will become
available at retail stores later this year and can be accessed with
3G-enabled handsets in any part of the UAE covered by du's
3G network.
"This is quite innovative
and adds a bit of personal touch to the service they provide," said Wa'el Zaida, a telecom
analyst at EFG Hermes in Cairo.
Innovate or die
Zaida described an "innovate
or die" scenario in which du needs to offer
interesting services to differentiate itself from incumbent etisalat.
"With this new service du is trying to position itself as innovative leader -
they have to find a corner for themselves to stand up and shine otherwise
it will become extremely difficult for them," he said
"The UAE market has the
highest penetration in the region, if not the world. If du
can't find little edges and try to emphasize them and build market share
and subscribers, then they'll be thrown into a situation where they can't
swing to profitability."
Waiving any registration fee, du will charge for usage by the second to pre-paid and
post-paid customers. The UAE telco did not reveal
the price of its HomeCam equipment and service,
or when it will become available.
Osman Sultan, du
CEO, said in a release, "HomeCam is a
service that we are very proud of at du. This
service will benefit a large segment of the society, mainly working mothers
and parents in general who want to keep an eye on their children's safety
and well-being when left at home."
"The state of the art HomeCam will also cater to shopkeepers in keeping a
close check on their shop while they are out and for people to monitor
their homes and garages while traveling on vacations."
The HomeCam
video camera can zoom in and out, and also includes a night vision modes so
users can monitor their homes and shops even in the dark.
etisalat home guard to rival du (From Gulf News, May 29, 2007)
Dubai - Following on the heels of du, etisalat yesterday
announced its home surveillance product that can be viewed though mobile
phones.
etisalat has announced the price of
its 3G MobileCAM, at Dh799, and it is already
available.
The video cam service provides
anytime, anywhere access to video footage and video call services to a home
or office.
To use MobileCAM,
customers must first purchase an etisalat 3G MobileCAM device from any of
the etisalat business centers or key retailers in
the UAE. They must also acquire either a prepaid or postpaid 3G SIM card
for the service.
"We are introducing the
product to provide holidaymakers and new homeowners a convenient and
accessible security solution," said Eisa Al
Haddad, etisalat chief marketing officer.
101 made toll-free service for
all Etisalat customers (From Khaleej Times, April 7, 2007)
ABU DHABI - All Etisalat
customers can now enjoy free customer care from one toll-free number - 101.
Earlier, this number was
chargeable from mobile telephones. Starting April 8, all Etisalat customer service numbers will be combined, and
will be accessible by calling 101 from Etisalat
GSM or Wasel mobiles and fixed-lines.
Etisalat will now also respond to
callers in Urdu, Hindi and Malayalam languages, in addition to Arabic and
English, when receiving call at 101.
This re-designed 24-hour
service, which combines 800-6100 (Internet support services), 800-5500 (E-Vision
services), 800-6464 (mobile value-added services), 800-3463 (e-shop online
services), and 171 (fault reporting centre), will allow callers to obtain
information on Etisalat’s special offers and
promotions, subscribe quickly and conveniently to the same services,
discuss billing information, obtain clarifications on billed items, ask for
and receive general information as well as receive technical support and
report faults for mobile, landline, internet, TV products, and for Etisalat online service.
However, Etisalat’s
Directory Enquiries Service, 181, has not been changed and customers can
continue to dial 181 to obtain contact information.
Oger Telecom planning acquisitions before IPO (March 27, 2007)
Dubai (Reuters) - Dubai-based Oger Telecom, which on Saturday lost its bid to enter Saudi Arabia's
telecoms market, said it wants to conclude at least two acquisitions this
year before restarting scrapped IPO plans as early as 2008.
Oger, whose majority owner Saudi Oger is controlled by relatives of late Lebanese prime
minister Rafik Hariri,
has $4-$5 billion to spend on acquisitions, which could include a bid in a
privatization of Kazakhtelecom, said Chief
Executive Paul Doany.
The firm cancelled a $1.25 billion
initial public offering in November on fears that tumbling Gulf Arab
markets would hit the share price after listing in Dubai
and London.
"We believe it would make
more sense to crack at least two of these acquisitions before the
IPO," Doany said.
"The shareholders will
have to decide what is the right time for the IPO.
I believe that the end of this year or early next year seems like the right
timing for it," he said.
Oger is increasingly focusing on
telecom acquisitions outside the Middle East after its bids in Tunisia and Saudi Arabia fell below those
of competing Gulf Arab operators.
"We are looking at four
specific acquisitions ... We are now bidding on one opportunity," Doany said, declining to give details.
He said the firm is also prepared
to bid for any tender of Kazakhstan's
largest fixed-line operator Kazakhtelecom, in
which the government holds a stake of around 50 per cent. Kazakhtelecom also owns 49 per cent of a mobile phone
operator in the country.
"We believe the
privatization of Kazakhtelecom will be happening
in six to nine months, and we are very very keen
on that," Doany said.
The company would also look at
bidding for a majority stake in Albanian fixed and mobile phone operator
Alba Telecom through Turk Telekom if the government
issues a new tender this year, he said.
'We didn't expect such a high
price'
In the latest upset, Oger's $4 billion bid for Saudi
Arabia's third mobile phone license came in far below
the $6.1 billion winning bid of a consortium led by Kuwait's Mobile
Telecommunications Co.
"That was absolutely the
highest level we were prepared to offer. We didn't expect prices to reach
that level. Even at our price it was a real stretch," Doany said.
Etisalat’s Urdu, Malayalam services (From Khaleej Times, March 9, 2007)
DUBAI - Etisalat
will soon offer its high-end technical support services in Malayalam and
Urdu to complement the existing services in Arabic and English.
The services will also allow customers
to access customer care and support for E-Vision services, Internet Support
and Mobile Value Added Services by dialing 101.
This follows Etisalat's announcement recently that it has exceeded
Dh100 million in total capital investment in customer care since opening
its own contact centre in 2000.
Etisalat and Telkom
Kenya
to construct submarine cable system (From Lightwave, November 30, 2006)
(Press Release) - Etisalat, telecommunications service provider in the
UAE, recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Telkom Kenya Ltd. to construct, operate, and maintain a
high-capacity fiber-optic submarine cable system between Mombassa, Kenya,
and the Emirate of Fujairah.
The jointly owned cable system
will be known as The East African Marine System (TEAMS) comprising of a
minimum of two fiber pairs with initial capacity of 10-Gbits/sec,
upgradeable to 320 Gbits/sec.
The agreement ensures
connectivity to inland telecommunication facilities for the purpose of
connecting the cable system to respective international gateways in both
the United Arab Emirates
and Kenya.
The two parties aim to be
ready for service by November 2007, with a construction and supply contract
to be awarded early in 2007.
The TEAMS Cable System will
strengthen ties between Kenya
and the UAE, while nurturing the existing relationship between Etisalat and Telkom Kenya.
Emirates to allow in-flight
mobile phone service (November 8, 2006)
DUBAI (AFP) - Dubai-based carrier Emirates said it
will become in January the world's first airline to introduce in-flight
mobile phone services after fitting its fleet with safety equipment.
"Emirates will install a
system that allows passengers the choice of safely using their own mobile
phones to make and receive phone calls and text messages from Emirates
aircraft," a statement said.
It expects to launch the
service on board one of its Boeing 777s as early as January 2007,
"once all necessary approvals are granted."
European airlines are also
planning to start trial use of mobiles on board their planes from early
2007.
Emirates said it was investing
27 million dollars to fit its fleet with equipment supplied by AeroMobile, a major provider of inflight
mobile services.
"The AeroMobile
aircraft systems ensure that passenger mobile phones operate at their
minimum power settings thereby allowing their safe use on the
aircraft," it said.
Mobile phones will only be
used at cruise altitude, like in the case of other electronic devices,
while cabin crew will have full control over the system.
"The number of calls that
may be made at any one time is also limited to a maximum of five or six
calls, the same number as for the current in-seat phones used regularly by
Emirates' passengers," the statement added.
The service will also allow
passengers to send and receive text messages, with charges in line with
international roaming rates.
"Our customers are
already making more than 6,000 calls a month from our in-seat phones, so we
will be making life easier," said Emirates chairman Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum.
Cabin crew will will advise and encourage passengers to switch their
phones to silent or vibrate mode when used in the aircraft.
The Middle
East's fastest growing carrier is spending billions of dollars
on expanding its fleet, which currently consists of 92 aircraft.
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 licence 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).
Etisalat positive about overseas
acquisition drive (From Gulf News, June 26, 2006)
Dubai - Etisalat,
the UAE's leading telecom operator, is likely to
secure a third license in Syria
soon, while a top official expressed his optimism about securing Egypt's
third license in the coming months.
These developments reflect the
UAE's prime telecom service provider's major
expansion drive that will see the company secure at least half a dozen new
licenses in Yemen, Mauritania, Russia, Greece, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.
Mohammad Omran,
Etisalat president, told Gulf News his company
planned to expand its operations in Asia, Africa and Europe by buying
shares in telecommunication companies and establishing new land and mobile
telephone networks in that region.
"We are positive about
securing Egypt's
third mobile license. We will soon declare details of serious negotiations
to enter new markets in West Africa,"
he said. "Etisalat will also soon announce
the details of negotiations to acquire the third mobile license in Syria.
Our meeting with the Syrian officials proved positive."
Etisalat may also soon announce the
results of its bid to acquire a mobile license in Yemen, the negotiations for
which have entered its final stage, apart from the Mauritanian license for
which talks will be concluded on July 14, he said.
Another prominent Etisalat official said the company had entered the
final and conclusive stage of competition with Mobile TeleSystems,
and Vimpelcom, Russia's largest and
second-largest mobile phone providers, to buy 90 per cent of Armentel, the Armenian telecommunication company, which
is owned by OTE, a Greek telecoms provider.
"We are taking part in
the July 20 auction after a comprehensive study and we are happy to
announce that all pointers are objective."
"Etisalat
is working on more than one regional and international front to enter the
Uzbek and Tajik mobile markets and buy 70 per cent to 85 per cent of mobile
telephone companies in the two countries," Jamal Al Jarwan, director-general of Etisalat
International, told Gulf News.
Etisalat has operations in Saudi Arabia, Pakistan,
Sudan and West Africa.
Etisalat to bid for stake in Algerie Telecom (June 19,
2006)
Algiers (Reuters) - Dubai-based
Emirates Telecommunications Corp (Etisalat) plans
to take part in the partial privatisation of Algerie Telecom to expand its presence in North Africa, Algerian state news agency APS said.
Algeria's minister for postal
services, IT and communications, Boudjemaa Haichour, received a team from the UAE company on Saturday.
The team "expressed their
willingness to participate concretely on the occasion of the opening of
capital of Algerie Telecom", APS cited the ministry as saying in a statement.
Observers said other firms
including France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom are
likely to bid for a stake of around 35 per cent in the Algerian operator,
expected by analysts to raise around $3.5 billion.
No date has been set for the
sale, which is part of efforts by Algeria to end decades of
economic isolation, but officials say it should take place before the end
of this year.
Algerie Telecom has an estimated half
a million fixed-line clients and over 4 million mobile subscribers.
Thuraya's 2005 profit rises sharply
despite falling revenues in Iraq
(From Gulf News, May 30, 2006)
Abu
Dhabi - Thuraya Satellite
Telecommunications Company (Thuraya) has earned a
net profit of $80 million for full year 2005 despite falling revenues from Iraq,
a key market since the war, a top company official said.
Yousuf Al Sayed,
Chief Executive said Thuraya is bullish for 2006
as services are rolled out in Africa and
Asian. "Thuraya earned net revenues of $323
million in 2005 and a net profit of $80 million compared to $26 million
profits in the previous year," he told Gulf News in an interview
yesterday.
"Our growth is not
dependent on the Iraqi market now because of declining revenues. In 2004, Iraq
accounted for 60 per cent of our revenues and that came down to 40 per cent
in 2005. Up to now in 2006, it has come down further to only seven per cent
and it is going down," he said.
However, promising markets in
Africa will help build up revenues as Public Call Offices (PCOs) get operational in Libya and some other markets.
Currently more than 6,000 PCOs are in operation with about 2,000 PCOs installed in Libya. "We are awaiting
the signal from the authorities to start services in Libya."
Plans are underway to
introduce the second generation PCOs, he said.
"These would be lower in cost and smaller in size and we expect to
bring them into the market in the second half of this year."
Significantly, Thuraya also plans to introduce
higher speed data (GSL plus) within a year and a half for its portable
units. Thuraya was scheduled to receive the
second generation handsets in March this year but this has been delayed
until July this year.
Some 360,000 handsets of Thuraya are currently in the market. Meanwhile, Thuraya is in talks with insurance broker Wilis to insure the launch of Thuraya
3 and renew the in-orbit insurance of Thuraya-2 which expires this month.
Communications satellite Thuraya 3 to be launched (From Gulf
News, May 30, 2006)
Abu Dhabi - The UAE's
Thuraya Satellite Telecommunications Company is
taking delivery of its third satellite next month and will launch it in
January 2007, the company's chief told Gulf News yesterday.
Yousuf Al Sayed,
Chief Executive said Sea Launch Company of the US which lofted Thuraya's earlier two satellites has been selected to
put into orbit Thuraya 3.
"Thuraya's
third satellite has been completed by Boeing Satellite Systems. The tests
have been completed last week and it is now awaiting the launch. We have
signed an agreement with Sea Launch Company to launch Thuraya
3," he said in an exclusive interview.
The exact cost of the third
satellite was not disclosed but it is estimated to be close to the cost of
the earlier two satellites of $200 million and $150 million respectively.
"Essentially, Thuraya 3 will replace Thuraya
1 that is currently covering south-east Asia including Korea and Indonesia. Thuraya
2 will continue to serve the Middle East, Europe, North Africa, India
and some Asian markets," said Al Sayed.
"Overall, once Thuraya 3 is in orbit and along with Thuraya 2, our coverage will be from the tip of Iceland to Japan."
Although Thuraya
has no immediate plans to enter the large US market it plans to cover the
South American market, he said.
"Our roll out is region
by region and right now the US is not on our radar screen because there are
already three to four domestic systems there similar to Thuraya.
But we plan to cover South America at a
later stage."
Future plans
Talks with Boeing for fourth
satellite and plans for a secondary gateway in Dubai
Thuraya is in discussions with Boeing
Satellite Systems for a fourth satellite and plans to build a secondary
gateway in Dubai,
a top official said yesterday.
"We have opened talks
with Boeing for a fourth satellite. It is not decided whether it would be a
clone or a new, next generation satellite," said Yousuf
Al Sayed, Chief Executive of Thuraya.
"We plan to build a
secondary gateway to serve as a back-up for the Sharjah
Primary Gateway. We are in discussions with Etisalat
for a site in Dubai."
He said Thuraya
opened a regional office in Nairobi
two weeks ago to support the growing east and central African markets.
"We are awaiting approval
to launch PCO's (public call offices) in Libya
where nearly 2,000 PCOs are installed.
Etisalat introduces another option for
prepaid customers to recharge (From
ameinfo.com, April 18, 2006)
- Emirates Telecommunications
Corporation- Etisalat- has announced the latest
option available to customers to get recharge credit for their 'Wasel' accounts or access other prepaid services from Etisalat.
Etisalat Electronic Vouchers, or eVouchers, are being made available at retail outlets
across the UAE, and soon even neighbourhood
grocery stores will be equipped with special electronic units to dispense
the eVouchers. This service will be available
alongside all other recharge methods.
Essa Al Haddad, Executive Vice
President - Marketing, Etisalat, said:
'We are very happy to bring
our customers yet another easy method of recharging their Wasel or getting prepaid credit for other services. Etisalat is committed to empowering our customers with
options and choices, and to making their experience in dealing with us even
more convenient and hassle-free. The eVoucher
service is being rolled out effectively to cover the entire UAE as soon as
possible.'
Customers will be able to
purchase recharge credit for Wasel in the
available denominations of AED 40 and AED 25, and prepaid credit for other
services in the denomination of AED 20. The eVoucher
dispenser will print out a voucher which will have the unique recharge code
printed on it. The customer can then use the recharge code as usual.
This option is added to the
list of other numerous recharge methods that are already offered by the
Corporation. Etisalat is not discontinuing any of
its current recharge options. Currently customers can access prepaid credit
through the popular scratch cards, at cash payment machines located
strategically in high-traffic areas across the UAE, all Emirates Post
outlets, and Etisalat Business Centres. Customers can also pay through www.e4me, or
through channels offered by ten major banks in the UAE.
Pakistan transfers control of telecom
firm PTCL to buyer UAE Etisalat (April 14,
2006)
KARACHI (AFX) - Authorities
have passed management control of the country's largest telecom -- Pakistan
Telecommunications Company Limited (PTCL) -- to United Arab Emirates Etisalat, after a bid of 2.6 bln
usd in June last year, officials said.
The management control of PTCL
was formally transferred to Etisalat late last
night in Islamabad
with the induction of new directors to the board of PTCL.
'The nominees of Etisalat were formally co-opted on the PTCL board and
its group of companies to complete formal handing over of the company's
management to the new owner,' a spokesman of state-run Privatization
Commission said.
The deal had foundered in
October when Etisalat failed to meet a deadline
for full payment but marathon talks between Pakistan and the UAE based firm
saved the sale.
The Share Purchase Agreement
was finally signed last month after Etisalat paid
the initial amount of 1.4 bln usd,
the official said, requesting anonymity.
Under the agreement, the
balance of 1.2 bln usd
will be paid in nine equal installments on a half-yearly basis, he said.
Delay in accord with Etisalat may hit du (From Gulf
News, April 4, 2006)
Dubai - The UAE's
second telecom operator, du, may face a delay in
rolling out its services unless it and Etisalat
can come to an agreement next month, a telecom official said on Monday.
The Telecom Regulatory
Authority (TRA) which in the past has said it won't get involved in the
negotiations has already extended the grace period for the two companies to
link their services.
Despite ironing out 80 per
cent of their differences, du could be forced to
delay the launch from the third to the fourth quarter of 2006 unless the
companies can reach an agreement on a final few points, said Ahmad Bin Byat, Chairman of du.
"The situation now can
not bear any delay beyond the end of this month, otherwise we will be
forced to introduce our services to customers in the last quarter of
2006," he said.
However, Bin Byat said that the delay in the negotiations didn't
mean the two operators are on opposing sides.
"We are not surprised by
the delay because du has a new status in the UAE,
and the delay is expected," said Bin Byat.
its link to a telecommunications
and internet system that spans the globe yesterday.
The system will provide du customers with the capability to make international
calls and connect to a high speed internet service without the need to
access Etisalat infrastructure.
The link is being provided by
Flag Telecom's Falcon submarine cable system, which stretches from Suez to Mumbai, and
links to the company's Fibre Link Around the Globe (FLAG) submarine cable.
du has already invested millions
of dollars in Flag Telecom's cable system, along with operators in Bahrain, Egypt,
India, Kuwait, Oman,
Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Qatar
and Sudan.
Flag accepted handover of the
Falcon segments from the UAE to Oman
and from the UAE to Qatar
last month. The segment from Qatar
to Bahrain
is scheduled to be handed over to the operations team this week.
du intends to roll out
international, advanced mobile and fixed line services as well as broadband
Internet and pay TV packages later this year.
du Chief Executive Osman Sultan said international connectivity through
Falcon would enable du to enhance the level and
quality of international services it was able to offer its customers and
provide the infrastructure to meet the increasing demand for the roll-out
of mobile and fixed voice and broadband services.
Tecom is Maltacom's
preferred bidder (April 4, 2006)
Valletta, Malta
(Reuters) - Malta's
government has chosen Dubai's
Tecom as the preferred bidder for its 60 per cent
stake in Maltese telecom company Maltacom, it
said on Monday.
The Maltese investment
ministry said Tecom's bid, at 214 million euros
($258 million, Dh949 million), was significantly higher than other bids.
As preferred bidder, Tecom will hold exclusive negotiations with Malta's
government about buying the stake.
"Lehman Brothers, the
government's financial advisors on this transaction, believe Tecom's bid is consistent with the current market
valuation for telecom incumbents" the statement said.
Maltacom is the only fixed line telephony company in Malta
and also owns a large cellphone subsidiary which
shares the market with Vodafone Malta. The remainder
of its shares are owned by the public. They are traded on the Malta and London stock exchanges.
It was the second piece of
good news for Tecom in under a week, the company
having won a bid last week for a 35 per cent stake in Tunisie
Telecom.
Etisalat aims to purchase 35% stake in Tunisie Telecom (March 10,
2006)
(MENAFN) - The corporation's
chief of the UAE's telecom giant Etisalat said that the company has formally submitted
its bid for a 35 percent stake in Tunisia's Tunisie
Telecom, WAM reported.
While the technical bids were
due to be opened late last night, there are a big number of bidders, at
least 8 to 10, but only when the technical bids are opened will we know who
the bidders are. Those who pre-qualify will be eligible for the financial
bids.
If Etisalat
wins the deal in Tunisia
it would consolidate the UAE telecom major's position in the international
markets, particularly Africa where it already has a presence in markets
such as Sudan, Tanzania and Zanzibar, according to analysts.
However, Etisalat
is planning also to invest in other African markets such as Egypt, Libya
and Algeria.
Etisalat launches CLIP for call waiting
on fixed lines (From ameinfo.com, March 4, 2006)
- Emirates Telecommunications
Corporation- Etisalat- has announced the
extension of the CLIP (Calling Line Identification Presentation) service to
include call waiting on the fixed line network.
Fixed line subscribers will
now be able to know the number from which a second call comes in when they
are already on a call.
Currently, when a subscriber
has an activate Call Waiting service on the fixed line telephone, a tone is
sounded when there is a second incoming call when the phone is already in
use. With this extension of the CLIP service to call waiting, customers
will be able to see the telephone number of the origin of the second call.
Mohammed Al Fahim, Executive Vice President- Marketing, Etisalat, said: 'The launch of
this service continues in the efforts of the Corporation to support our
customers with the highest possible technologies and conveniences, and show
our commitment to enhancing the telecom experiences of all our customers.
All our customers on the fixed line network across the Emirates will
automatically receive this service, at no charge.'
UAELAB has approved three
telephone sets that support this new enhancement, and these are the
CYBIOLINK 9000 from Metel Trading, IRIS 6015 from
Intracom Middle East and the PANASONIC KXTSC11
from Al Futtaim Panatech
LLC. These equipments are also available at Etisalat
Business Centers, at the vendor outlets.
'There have been significant
developments to the fixed line network, especially in terms of the
Value-Added Services offered. Etisalat has been at
the forefront of the development of this sector in the region. With the
imminent launch of NGN (Next Generation Network), there will be much more
scope for growth and development of the sector, as customers can benefit
from features like video calling and high-speed Internet', he added.
Etisalat currently serves over 1.2
million subscribers on the fixed line network.
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