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Telecom
and Financial News
Below are the archived news
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1 to 10 of 1042
Oman invites fixed licence bids
The telecoms regulator of Oman has today invited bids for the country's second fixed line licence, which is due to be awarded at the end of October.
The new operator, which will end the monopoly of Omantel, will reportedly be required to invest US$300m in the first five-years of its 25-year contract to build and operate the fixed network. It will also include a 15-year broadband licence.
First round bids are due on August 25.
Omantel and Nawras are the two mobile operators in the country. Omantel is in the process of selling a 25% stake.
Posted: 13/08/2008 |
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Tata Teleservices to acquire abroad, invest US$2bn on GSM
Tata Teleservices has stated its intention to acquire overseas telcos in order to hit 100 million subscribers by 2011, according to various reports.
Tata managing director Anil Sardana was quoted as saying: "We will absolutely look at foreign acquisitions. There has to be inorganic growth also, perhaps even acquiring an Indian company."
But Sardana declined to posit concrete targets.
Tata Teleservices has around 27 million mobile users through its brand name Tata IndiCom.
Meanwhile, Tata Teleservices is planning to invest US$2bn on GSM expansion across India. The company is hoping to launch GSM services by the end of this year.
Posted: 13/08/2008 |
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Sweden could force operators to buy new GSM licence
Sweden's three major telecoms operators Teliasonera, Tele2 and Telenor, could have to bid again for a GSM licence once their existing licence expires at the end of 2010.
Under plans being floated by Sweden's government, the operators would not be allowed to renew their licences, as is usually the case, but would have to bid for the 900Mhz and 1,800MHz spectrum again in a new auction. The proposal would be a setback for the trio but is welcomed by Hutchison-owned 3, which could use the scheme to acquire its own GSM network.
Posted: 12/08/2008 |
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Zain unveils multi-billion strategy to lead Nigerian market
Zain will spend NgN116bn (US$1bn) annually on its Nigerian operations in a bid to become the country's top mobile carrier by 2011.
Zain Nigeria, which was known as Celtel until August 1, is currently the country's second-largest operator after MTN. The company's CEO Baya Ligali said the planned investment would come on top of the US$200m it already set aside to build a 4,000 km long fibre-optic backbone in the country, which should be ready by early next year.
With 15 million subscribers - up from 5 million two years ago - Nigeria is Zain's largest market. The Kuwaiti group has already invested US$3.5bn in Nigeria, including the US$1.5bn it paid to acquire 65% of Celtel in 2006.
Posted: 12/08/2008 |
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Belgacom completes Luxembourg acquisition
Belgacom has announced that it has concluded its acquisition of Tele2 Luxembourg and is in the final stages of purchasing Tele2's Liechtenstein operations.
The combined total of the acquisitions is thought to be E207m on a debt-and-cash-free basis.
As of the end of March 2008 the two telcos had some 238,000 mobile customers, 10,000 fixed broadband customers and 26,000 fixed-line subscribers.
The transaction is expected to have a positive one-off effect of E105.4m on Tele2.
Tele2 has recently sold off many of its international assets, with analysts saying the company is expected to focus on its Russian, Baltic and Swedish activities, or possibly even sell the company outright.
Tele2 Luxembourg achieved EBITDA of E31m in 2007 and E6.15m for Q1 2008.
Posted: 11/08/2008 |
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Telecom Egypt to invest and divest
Telecom Egypt (TE) head honcho Akil Beshir has said that his firm plans to invest US$285m in the company this year, according to various reports.
Perhaps more intriguingly, Beshir also hinted that TE is considering selling a 50% stake in Lacom, a JV with Orascom that operates in Algeria.
Posted: 11/08/2008 |
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Ecuador re-jig on the cards
Ecuador's two main fixed-line telcos, Andinatel and Pacifíctel, along with state-run mobile operator Telecsa (Alegro) are to be intergrated into a single entity, according to Jorge Glass, president of Ecuador's Solidarity Fund.
Andinatel and Pacifíctel are owned by the Solidarity Fund, whilst Telecsa is owned by Andinatel.
The rationale behind the plan is improving competitiveness of the state-owned operations and increasing internet access.
Posted: 08/08/2008 |
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Four bid for Romania"s wireless broadband licence
Four companies have placed offers for Romania's sixth 410-415/420-425 wireless broadband MHz licence, the Romanian telecoms regulator ANRCTI said.
These are NetPoint, Romtelecom, Saudi Oger and Tactical Networks. There were 10 companies, which had bought the tender documentation.
The regulator said that the most important criteria in choosing the winner is the technical feasibility (the optional services proposed, the number of base stations installed) and the coverage of broadband communications services. More generally, offers will be assessed on the turnover, commercial feasibility, specialisation and experience.
The minimum requirements for the coverage of broadband services include at least 2,500 km national European roads, at least 55% of the country territory and 100 towns with maximum 50,000 inhabitants by the end of 2013.
The winner will be announced on September 8.
The existing wireless broadband providers are Cosmote, Orange Romania, Vodafone, RCS&RDS and Zapp Mobile.
Posted: 08/08/2008 |
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Bernabe rules out TI hostile bid
Telecom Italia's CEO Franco Bernabe has ruled out a possible hostile takeover from Telefonica, Dow Jones reports quoting Italian daily La Stampa.
The Italian company's management has been under pressure over strategy because of share price drop. Bernabe reportedly said that the issue of strategy would be discussed at the end of the year. Reuters reported last month that a new industrial plan could be discussed on August 8 when the board meets.
Last week, Telecom Italia again denied any plans of a capital increase after one of the key shareholder Gilberto Benetton suggested that sooner or later Telecom Italia would have to sell new shares.
Telecom Italia is controlled by Telco, which has a 24.5% stake. Telco's shareholders are Telefonica, Intesa Sanpaolo, Mediobanca, Assicuranzioni General and the Benetton family.
Posted: 07/08/2008 |
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RCOM set for 3G tender
Reliance Communications (RCom) will launch a US$500m tender for 3G rollout, according to various reports.
The contract consists of 15 million lines and hardware.
RCom currently operates GSM in eight circles and holds licences for another fourteen.
It is reported that RCom is in talks with Huawei, ZTE, Alcatel-Lucent, Nokia Siemens Networks and Ericsson.
Posted: 07/08/2008 |
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