Axiom Telecom signs strategic partnership agreement with Zain KSA

Axiom Telecom has signed a strategic partnership agreement with Zain KSA in Saudi Arabia. The deal allows Axiom Telecom to provide and distribute Zain products and offers directly via its over 400 branches and selling points throughout the Kingdom.

Zain KSA will also benefit from Axiom's superior distribution coverage of over 4000 dealers, of which 2000 are dealt with through direct distribution.

The agreement was signed during the Mobile World Congress 2013 in Barcelona, and is set to significantly boost Axiom Telecom's presence in the burgeoning Saudi Arabian market.

"Zain KSA is an innovative player, and with this partnership we seek to expand in what is hugely exciting and growing market for us," said Faisal Al Bannai, CEO, Axiom Telecom.

"First and foremost this deal is about delivering value to the customer through increasing their options and providing world-class service. Our union is a complementary one, playing to our own unique strengths, and I have no doubt that much mutual success lies ahead," he added.

Saud Al-Bawardi Chief Operation Officer at Zain KSA said that the agreement comes as an activation of the company's operational plans to expand and enhance customer access to Zain products, services, and special offers. Zain's postpaid and prepaid lines, Internet devices and smartphones and tablets, will now be available via Axiom branches, which exceeds more than 400 around the Kingdom.

Al-Bawardi hailed Axiom Telecom for gaining customer confidence in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and all around the Gulf countries, adding that this agreement will enhance the two companies' ability to provide the best services to all customers.

News of the deal follows Axiom Telecom's recent announcement that 2012 was its most successful year yet. The innovative telecommunications retailer currently holds a 71% share of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) handset market and a dominant share of the Saudi Arabian smart phone market,

Tanzania to build telecom traffic monitoring system

The Tanzanian government plans to build a Telecoms Traffic Monitoring System by June to control and improve network services in the country.

 ICT Deputy Minister January Makamba told the Daily News that the monitoring system will ensure improved telecommunications. This along with the cut in interconnection rates from March are expected to lead to better quality and lower prices for end-users.

Tanzania Mobile Operators

• Zain Tanzania
• MIC Tanzania Limited (tiGO)
• Tanzania Telecommunications Company Limited
• Vodacom Tanzania
• Benson Informatics Limited
• Zantel

Wataniya Telecom teams up with Huawei

Wataniya Telecom, a leading mobile telecom operator in Kuwait, and Huawei, a leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider, announced the successful contractual signature for a portion of Wataniya’s nationwide 2G/3G network upgrade as well as the deployment of its advanced 4G network. The partnership is the largest of its kind in the history of Wataniya Telecom and marks a major step for the development of the company’s broadband network. The partnership includes agreements on a series of products as well as Managed Services.

With both 2G and 3G and the new 4G networks, Wataniya’s customers will experience a superior cutting-edge mobile broadband experience. In December 2012, Wataniya Telecom invited all of its customers to experience its new 4G network and to share their usage experience.  The experience feedback received was incorporated in the modernization plan to ensure that the evolved 4G technology conforms to the highest international standards. At the eventful signing ceremony in Barcelona during the World Mobile Congress 2013, Dr Bassam Hannoun, Wataniya Telecom CEO, said: “We are going through a full transformation of our mobile (2G/3G) networks, and the deployment of 4G networks to offer our customers substantially enhanced network coverage and data speed.”

“We have selected Huawei as our long-term strategic partner and we believe that their innovative solutions and extensive experience will enable our customers to enjoy a unique mobile experience,” Hannoun added.

Huawei will provide Wataniya Telecom with its latest cutting-edge SingleRAN solution, capable of providing multiple network standards including GSM, HSPA+, and 4G into a single network. The innovative CME (Civil Mechanical Electric) solution and state-of-art RRU (Remote Radio Unit) technology will be adopted in this project.  This will enhance the quality of its mobile service offerings to assure the best usage experience as well as lowering its TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) as well.

“We are committed to being the best business partner for our customers worldwide, and will remain focused on customer-centric innovation moving forward with Wataniya Kuwait in this latest agreement” noted Dr Liang, Senior Vice-President of Huawei. The ceremony was attended by representatives from both Wataniya Telecom and Huawei including DCEO of Wataniya Eng. Abdulaziz Fakhroo and CTO Hisham Siblini, and Huawei’s MENA VP Xia chaojie, GM Pan En and DGM Xu Hu.

Telecom Argentina revenues up 20% in 2012

Telecom Argentina reported revenues of over ARS 22 billion in 2012, up 20 percent over the year-earlier quarter. Mobile revenues rose 22 percent to ARS 16 billion, and fixed-line revenues increased 13 percent to ARS 6 billion. Net income for the period rose by 7 percent to ARS 2.68 billion from ARS 2.51 billion at 31 December 2011. OIBDA improved 10 percent to ARS 6.5 billion.

The operator's mobile unit Personal saw its customer base grow by 4 percent in the twelve-month period, for a total of 18.97 million at the end of December 2012. Nucleo, the company's mobile unit in Paraguay, had 2.30 million customers at the end of the period, up 7 percent from a year earlier.

The fixed division ended September with 4.1 million lines in service, almost stable year-on-year, while the number of ADSL customers rose 5 percent year-on-year to 1.63 million users at 31 December 2012. ARPU climbed 6 percent year-on-year for fixed customers to ARS 48.2 at 31 December 2012, while mobile ARPU grew 12 percent to ARS 57.7.

Etisalat seeks control of Maroc Telecom

Faced with stagnating revenues in West Africa, UAE’s Etisalat is hoping a majority stake in Morocco’s Maroc Telecom will invigorate growth there by creating a regional telecoms powerhouse with more than 25 million mobile subscribers, people familiar with the matter said.

Etisalat, which last month expressed an interest in French conglomerate Vivendi SA’s 53 per cent stake in Maroc, sees significant cost and revenue synergies between its operations across six African countries and Maroc’s subsidiaries in West Africa, the people, who didn’t want to be named because a deal is still being negotiated, said.

Etisalat is already present in Benin, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Niger, Central African Republic and Togo, while Maroc Telecom has subsidiaries in Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Mali and also Gabon. Maroc Telecom would manage the combined assets of the two companies in the region, the people familiar with Etisalat’s plans said.

“They see the synergy of the deal not in further optimisation in Maroc Telecom but in integrating their countries with the other countries for Maroc Telecom and creating this Francophone powerhouse along the coast of Western Africa,” said one person familiar with the matter.

Etisalat’s revenues have remained broadly flat across its African operations over the past four quarters and operating profits have been falling, even as subscribers have grown, according to its latest quarterly presentation to analysts. Capital expenditure has also been decreasing in the past year.

Across the Ivory Coast, Benin, Togo, Gabon, Niger, C.A.R., and two other African operations, Tanzania and Sudan, subscribers increased 29 per cent to 12.2 million in the fourth quarter compared with the same period earlier, while revenue remained flat at Dh709 million ($193 million).

Maroc Telecom, meanwhile, grew revenue by 18 per cent across its West Africa subsidiaries last year and increased operating profit margins from 40.2 per cent to 46.5 per cent as subscribers grew 32 per cent to nearly 13 million.

Etisalat submitted a preliminary expression of interest for the Maroc Telecom stake last month. France Telecom SA, Doha’s Qatar Telecom and Korean operator KT Corp have all also publicly expressed an interest as well.

Vivendi SA has been looking to sell its 53 per cent stake in Maroc Telecom since last summer, as part of a broader strategic shift of the company away from telecommunications and its media and content assets.

Somali telecom industry under global radar

The Somali Minister of Information, Posts, Telecommunication and Transport, HE Abdullahi E Hersi (Elmog) attended the Mobile World Congress summit in Barcelona on the 25 to 27th of Feb 2013. At this conference, he met many global telecom and ICT Industry leaders, including many Ministers and heads of International Organizations such as the ITU (International Telecommunication Union), ATU (African Telecommunication Union) and GSMA.

The Minister, HE Abdullahi E Hersi  accompanied by his advisor Mr. Mohamed Ibrahim had an informative discussion with the ITU Sec General and members of his staff where they spoke at length about the recent developments of the Somali telecommunication sector. They talked about how this it would greatly impact the rebuilding of Somalia and also of the legal implications it may have in this sector with regards to inter-connectivity, the Somali gateway, access to the Fibre networks, a national number plan, spectrum usage and provision of universal service for the whole Somali community in Somalia and not just major cities.

This was a follow-up meeting from the December WCIT 2012 event in Dubai where Somali has signed in the International Regulatory Treaty, which means as a signatory; the Somali government has both rights and obligations under the rules that govern international telecommunication. A subsequent meeting is scheduled next month in Geneva where the ITU and representatives from the Somali government will finalize and start implementing the action plans discussed in Dubai. The Somali Telecom Industry is now under the radar of the global telecom industry, as well as international laws and regulations that govern this industry.

Somalia has made huge strides in recent months with the start of its national newspaper, plans to begin Postal Services and now the newest milestone with the developments in the telecommunication sector. For the Somali people, this is welcoming news because it now gives them unprecedented access to a transparent system that governs the telecommunication sector; for the telecom operators, they are now bound and protected by the international rules and regulations.

Qatar Telecom (Qtel) is changing its brand name

Qatar Telecom (Qtel) will change its brand name to Ooredoo, the company said in a statement, bringing in the change across it operations in the Middle East, Africa and Asia over the next two years.

It said all operations in which it owns a controlling interest would be rebranded under the new name, which means “I want” in Arabic, according to the statement.

Over the past 12 months, the company has increased its stakes in Iraq’s Asia cell to 64 percent and Kuwait’s No.2 operator Wataniya to 92.1 percent. Wataniya also owns90 percent of Tunisiana and is the company through which Qtel holds a controlling stake in Algeria’s Nedjma.

Qatar Telecom also has a majority holding in Indosat in Indonesia and Oman’s Nawras. It is also in talks to acquire Vivendi’s 53 percent stake in Morocco’s Maroc Telecom.

“It is our belief that we can better serve our global customers by leveraging the combined resources and assets of a strong, unified global business under one brand,” Qatar Telecom chief executive Nasser Marafih said in the statement.

“We also believe that rebranding now will help us to maintain our momentum in the face of new realities for the industry, signaling our commitment to become a global force.”

Qtel, majority owned by the Qatar government, has expanded into more than 16 countries Middle East, Africa and Asia.