Posts Tagged Zain
Paltel sets 9 February date for decision on Zain offer
According to online portal MEED, Palestine Telecommunications Company (Paltel) will make a decision regarding the sale of minority stake to Kuwait-based telecoms group Zain on 9 February. Paltel, which holds a monopoly in the fixed line sector in the West Bank and Gaza, will assess the offer at a meeting of its board of directors. The announcement comes after reports at the end of January 2008 that talks between Paltel and Zain regarding a stake sale were at ‘advanced’ stages.
Add comment February 5, 2009
Zain launches wireless hotspots (Malawi)
Zain Malawi has launched a wireless hotspot service around the country, according to cellular-news. Zain Malawi marketing director, Enwell Kadango, said ‘With the hotspots, we have gone a mile further offering our customers a modem they can use on their laptops or desktop computers to access internet anywhere.’ He added that the provision of wireless hotspots (Wi-Fi) underscores the company’s commitment to ensure that ICT can be accessed by all, whether in urban or rural areas. Zain Malawi had a wireless subscriber base of 1.17 million at end-September 2008, representing a market share of 74.5%.
Add comment February 5, 2009
MTN Ghana announces launch of HSDPA service
MTN Ghana (formerly Spacefon Areeba) launched its 3.5G service in Ghana on 28 January using high speed downlink packet access (HSDPA) technology. MTN says its new network will offer a range of data-oriented services and provide for more efficient delivery of existing services such as voice, SMS, MMS, and mobile internet access. Local press were given the opportunity to experience the benefits of 3.5G in a specially-constructed phone booth. Going forward, MTN Ghana plans to roll out more HSDPA-enabled phone booths in the capital Accra. In December 2008 Kuwait-based telecoms group Zain launched a 3.5G network in Ghana, having invested more than USD420 million in the country to realise the speedy deployment of the technology – a first for sub-Saharan Africa, excluding South Africa.
1 comment February 2, 2009
Wireless subscribers top 8.2 million (Uganda)
According to the Ugandan ICT minister, the number of wireless subscribers rose to 8.2 million at the end of 2008. While addressing a delegation of member countries of the Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA), Ham Mulira added that mobile penetration stood at around 25%.
At the end of September 2008 MTN retained a position of strength in the Ugandan wireless arena, with a market share of 42% (3.23 million subscribers), though this was down from 57.6% 18 months earlier. Zain was next largest, with 1.86 million customers, while UTL had an estimated 1.65 million. Newcomer Warid claimed a laudable million customers at the end of September 2008, or 13% of the market, just eight months after launch.
Add comment January 29, 2009
Zain in talks for stake in Paltel (Palestinian Territory)
Reuters is reporting that Kuwait-based telecoms giant Zain is in discussions aimed at taking a stake in Palestinian fixed line and broadband provider Palestinian Telecommunications Company (Paltel). A spokesman for Zain confirmed that talks between the two companies are at ‘advanced’ stages, and a deal could be concluded soon. It has not been confirmed however whether Zain is pursuing a majority in stake in Paltel, and trading in the latter company has been suspended on the Palestine stock exchange until any further announcements are made by the operators regarding the merger.
Add comment January 29, 2009
STC wins Bahrain’s third mobile licence
Saudi Telecom company (STC) has won Bahrain’s third mobile network operating licence with a bid of BHD86.7 million (USD231 million), the country’s Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) announced yesterday, breaking the duopoly of state-run Batelco and Kuwaiti-owned Zain. According to Reuters, STC plans to launch its Bahraini operations in the second half of this year and aims to acquire a 20% market share in ten years. The Saudi telco has also committed itself to establishing a USD300 million venture capital fund in Bahrain that will nurture communications and IT companies in the region. Three other firms had registered interest in the auction, but did not bid. Mohammed al-Amer, chairman of the TRA, confirmed that these were Bahraini operators 2Connect and Mena Telecom alongside a consortium including France Telecom subsidiary Jordan Telecom. Saudi Arabia and Bahrain have strong links, as several million people cross a causeway linking the two kingdoms every year.
Add comment January 23, 2009
Saudi Mobily’s Q4 profit up 51%, beats estimates
Etihad Etisalat (Mobily), Saudi Arabia’s second-largest mobile phone operator beat analysts’ fourth-quarter earnings forecasts due to higher revenues from voice and data services.
Mobily made 778 million riyals ($207.5 million) in the three months to Dec. 31, 51 percent higher than the 514.4 million riyals ($137.2 million) it made a year-earlier, the firm said in a statement posted on the bourse’s website.
Analysts forecast of Mobily’s fourth-quarter earnings ranged from 458 million riyals ($122.15 million) to 605.6 million riyals ($161.52 million), according to a Reuters survey.
The affiliate of Emirates Telecommunications Corp made a net profit of 2.09 billion riyals in 2008 up from 1.38 billion riyals in 2007 after its turnover rose 27.9 percent. The rise in 2008 turnover stemmed from “a rise in the number of subscribers, minutes of communications and an increase in demand for broadband services,” it said.
Earnings per share rose to 4 riyals ($1.07) in 2008 from 2.64 riyals ($0.70) the previous year. The company will give its shareholders a dividend of 0.75 riyal ($0.2) per share for 2008.
Mobily competes with Saudi Telecom Co, the largest Arab telecom firm by market value, for mobile phone and broadband users in the kingdom, home to 25 million people. The company posted a worse-than-expected 62 percent fall in Q4 results on Tuesday.
Zain Saudi Arabia, an affiliate of Kuwait’s Mobile Telecommunications Co (Zain), started operating a third mobile phone network in the third quarter of 2008.
Mobile phone penetration in the largest Arab economy exceeds 100 percent.
Emirates Telecommunications Corp owns 26.25 percent in Mobily, having sold an 8.74 percent stake in the firm at 55 riyals per share last year.
Add comment January 21, 2009
Ericsson to expand Zain Madagascar network
Swedish hardware vendor has inked an agreement with the Zain Group to expand the core network and GSM radio access network (RAN) for the mobile group’s Madagascan subsidiary. The expansion of the network will be centred on the deployment of Ericsson’s Packet Core Network, including both SGSN and GGSN nodes, and Ericsson’s Mobile Softswitch Solution. The new solutions are expected to allow Zain to reduce the number and size of its main core network sites. Rollout of the first phase of the project is already underway. No financial details of the deal have been announced.
Add comment January 13, 2009
Zain renews MTC Touch contract for a year, Orascom to manage Alfa
Yesterday, the Lebanese government said that Kuwait’s Zain Group and Egypt’s Orascom Telecom had both been awarded one-year contracts to manage the operations of the country’s two GSM mobile networks, commencing 1 February. An extension to Zain’s contract to run Mobile Interim Company (MIC 2), under the name MTC Touch Lebanon, officially ran out last month, but the Kuwaiti group has been allowed to remain at the helm, whilst Orascom will take over the reins of MIC 1, branded as Alfa, from the Ministry of Telecoms (MoT), after the state cancelled the operating contract of Fal Dete Telecommunications, a joint venture of Deutsche Telekom subsidiary DeTeCon International and Saudi Arabia’s Fal Holdings, at the beginning of December. Zain and Orascom beat off a rival bid from France Telecom. Information Minister Tareq Mitri said: ‘These two companies have…experience in the Lebanese market that allows them to manage well and positions them as the best companies to run this sector.’ According to local press, the new contracts are worth USD145 million. The privatisation of MIC 1 & 2 has been put on hold until after the next elections in May 2009.
Add comment January 13, 2009
Zain remains upbeat amid financial crisis
The Kuwait-based international cellular group Zain says it expects net profit to increase by over 30% in 2009, with EBITDA predicted to rise by around 40%. A report, which quotes local newspaper al-Watan, adds that Zain is expecting total subscriber numbers at its 22 operations in the Middle East and Africa to reach more than 94 million by end-2009, up from 64 million currently. Zain CEO Saad al-Barrak told al-Watan that the cellco’s financial situation is healthy despite the current global financial crisis.
Add comment January 6, 2009
Zain expects 30% profit rise in 2009
Africa and Middle East mobile operator Zain expects net profit to rise by more than 30 percent in 2009. The firm’s CEO Saad al-Barrak told al-Watan newspaper that EBITDA would rise by around 40 percent this year. A spokesman for Zain, which operates in 22 countries in the Middle East and Africa, confirmed the comments.
In October, Zain said it expected 2009 net profit to rise to around KWD 413 million, or by about 30 percent, buoyed by its overseas expansion strategy. Zain’s financial situation is very healthy despite the global financial crisis; Barrak was quoted in the newspaper, adding the firm had paid back obligations worth USD 1.8 billion in December. This represents about 25-30 percent of the company’s total debt, he told the paper. Zain sees its customer base rising to more than 94 million at the end of 2009, up from 64 million last year. For 2009, Zain would have a cash flow of USD 5 billion, Barrak said, without giving a comparison for last year.
Add comment January 6, 2009
Zain shifts focus on high-end mobile phone subscribers
In order to lure more subscribers to its data and productivity services, Zain has launched the first of a range of high end mobile phones.
“About 5% of our post paid customers are already Blackberry customers. We want to increase that number and also provide the market with innovative new products that will help people work better,” said Michael Okwiri, Zain Corporate Affairs Director.
This move marks a new shift in the telecommunications firms strategy to lure new subscribers. Since, last six months, Zain is targeting younger and less affluent user, which has augmented its subscriber base and gives tough competition to the new entrants such as Telkom’s Orange Mobile and Econet’s Yu.
Add comment December 29, 2008
Zain Sudan posts a subscriber base of 5Mn, aims 7Mn by 2009 end
Zain Sudan, one of Sudan’s leading mobile operator, has reportedly exceeded the subscriber base of 5million in nearly 22 months of its commercial operations in the country. According to the Managing Director of Zain-Sudan, Elfatih Erwa, the telco aims to raise this number to 7million by 2009 end.
The Sudanese telco has also been a key driver in country’s economy, injecting $3.5 billion in the country over the past three years.
Add comment December 29, 2008
Zain launches 7Mbps mobile internet service (Tanzania)
Zain Tanzania, a unit of the Kuwaiti group Zain, yesterday launched what it claims is the country’s fastest 3.5G mobile internet service. The unit’s managing director Mr Khaled Muhtadi, told reporters that the 3.5G technology will offer a theoretical maximum speed of 7Mbps over its mobile network, and will initially be available in the capital Dar es Salaam with other regions covered by the end of 2009. The ultra high speed internet service is currently available to Zain customers in parts of the city centre, Kariakoo and the Peninsular, he said.
The Tanzanian unit’s parent company has invested in excess of USD180 million this year in expanding and enhancing its network in Tanzania – including the HSDPA investment. In October this year Zain Tanzania said it was looking to increase its mobile subscriber base by 15% to 3.8 million by the end of the year. At that date, Mr Muhtadi said: ‘We have reached over 3.3 million customers today and our target is to exceed 3.8 million by the end of the year’. The Zain official went on to say that the key challenges facing the cellco in its bid for expansion were falling subscriber revenues (particularly from new customers), the high cost of handsets and the slow movement of equipment and supplies through the port and customs.
Add comment December 24, 2008
Zain reaches the million mark in first month (Saudi Arabia)
Zain Saudi Arabia, the cellular operator which launched the country’s third national mobile network in August, says it had signed almost a million subscribers by the end of September. ‘Things are moving much faster than expectations,’ company executive Marwan Al-Ahmadi told Reuters. Around 90% of Zain’s subscribers have signed to pre-paid packages. The firm says it expects to turn its first profit in its second full year of operation and it aims to have networks covering up to 95% of the population within two years, up from 55% currently. ‘Our ultimate aim is to get a third of the market,’ Al-Ahmadi said. ‘This is definitely not going to happen in the short term… I believe we should be able to achieve it in the range of five years.’
Add comment December 18, 2008
Zain launches 3.5G network in Ghana
Kuwait-based telecoms group Zain yesterday launched a 3.5G network in Ghana, having invested more than USD420 million in the country to realise the speedy deployment of the technology – a first for sub-Saharan Africa, excluding South Africa. Reuters reports that Zain sees potential on the continent where it already has 40 million customers. ‘Although penetration is very, very low, we see it as having very huge potential. A lot of people say Africa penetration is almost saturated, but we don’t because we see that we can optimise our business on the continent,’ Chris Gabriel, Chief Executive Officer of Zain Africa said. Zain, which already operates in 22 countries across the Middle East and Africa, is looking to become one of the world’s top ten operators by 2011 and has already set its sights on four of five acquisitions in the region which Gabriel says will be closed ‘in the next twelve months’.
Add comment December 17, 2008
