MyAdhan Blog

Link: Indonesia’s Telkom Q1 net up 5 pct on mobile users

PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia Tbk TLKM.JK, the country’s largest telecoms firm, posted a lower-than-expected 5.4 percent rise in first-quarter net profit, due to strong growth in mobile subscribers. State-controlled Telkom also announced a 16.8 percent rise in 2007 full-year net profit due to strong gains in its mobile unit, PT Telekomunikasi Selular (Telkomsel), and despite intense competition in the mobile sector. Telkom, valued at $18.7 billion and Indonesia’s largest listed company, said on Thursday its first-quarter net profit increased to 3.21 trillion rupiah ($344.9 million) from 3.0 trillion rupiah and missed analysts’ expectations of 3.37 trillion rupiah. Full-year net profit was 12.86 trillion rupiah versus 11 trillion rupiah in 2006, also below analysts’ forecasts for 13.4 trillion rupiah. Telkomsel, owned 65 percent by Telkom and 35 percent by Singapore Telecommunications Ltd, has more than 50 percent of Indonesia’s mobile phone market. The world’s fourth-most populous country has about 100 million mobile phone users.

Link: Egypt: Orascom Gearing Up to Intro 3G Mobile Services in North Korea

Orascom Telecom, the fourth largest Arab mobile operator by market value, completed its first 3G call on a Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) trial network in North Korea. Orascom, along with its North Korean subsidiary CHEO Technology, is now ready to launch 3G networks in the country toward the end of 2008. Orascom’s entry into North Korea represents a change to the telecommunication market in a country that is isolated from the world due to political reasons. Earlier this year, Orascom gained a license to offer 3G cellular services in North Korea for 25 years. The exclusive license is given to CHEO Technology, a joint venture between Orascom and Korea Post and Telecommunications, in which Orascom holds 75 percent stake. Orascom intends to provide voice, data, and value-added services across the network. The total investment on infrastructure and license fees is expected to be $400 million for the next three years. North Korea, the only remaining truly Communist country in the world, has been known notoriously to the outer world because of its secretive political separation and the restrictions imposed on its people by the government. In a country where government strictly monitors the population, the reach of a telecommunication service is always questionable. In 2004, a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) network was launched in the country; however, due to security reasons, access was restricted. That network is now used only by a few elite customers in the country. Orascom plans to start by installing service in three major North Korean Initially, it expects to sign up about 100,000 customers.

Link: Malaysian Operator Offers SMS Blocking Facility

Malaysian operator Maxis has ordered an SMS service platform from Acision which will enable its subscribers to block unsolicited SMS, or SMS spam, set up automatic replies and automatically copy messages to another mobile number - all from their handset. Dr. Nikolai Dobberstein, Head of Strategy and New Businesses, Maxis, commented: “Maxis is the first in Malaysia and amongst the first three in the region to offer this integrated SMS-management service. In fact, the Acision’s Message Plus platform has allowed Maxis to be the first mobile operator globally to enable a customer-activated Anti-Spam solution which blocks out local spam messages. For Maxis, this blacklist feature complements our ongoing efforts in combating local spam issues. Our customers can now, at their own accord, personalise and block of spam SMS from reaching their mobile phones. Boudewijn Pesch, Managing Director, Asia Pacific, Acision added: “SMS volume growth is only the first part of the story for operators like Maxis. Once the volumes are there it is essential that the operator starts to differentiate themselves, adding features and functionalities to enhance their text messaging offering. Personalized messaging for P2P customers at Maxis is ‘ just’ the first step in an initiative that will see enterprises, wholesale, internet applications benefit from advanced personalized messaging.”

Link: UAE eyes Iran’s cell phone market

Emirates Telecommunications Company, the second largest Arab phone firm by market value, eyes investment in Iran’s cell-phone market. “It is too early for us to make a decision as to whether we will enter or not and how we will enter,” said Mohammed Omran, Chairman of Emirates Telecommunications Company, or Etisalat, late Monday. “Iran has said they will open their market for two opportunities to my understanding, one is a mobile operator that is part of the Telecommunications Company of Iran (TCI), and the other is a new license,” Omran added. Etisalat also plans to expand business in Algeria, Lebanon, Iraq, Oman, South Africa, India and elsewhere in Asia. Thanks to its population growth and stable economy, the Iranian market looks attractive for foreign mobile phone operators. MegaFon, Russia’s third-largest mobile phone operator, announced last week that it might invest around 3 billion euros ($4.64 billion) in Iran to build a GSM network in the country. Two cell-phone service providers, including the state-owned TCI and South Africa’s MTN Group are currently rendering service to the country’s 28 million mobile phone users.

Link: Bangladesh mobile investment to rise 21%

Investment in Bangladesh’s fast-growing mobile phone market is set to jump 21.43 percent and top $3.4 billion in the year to June 2008, the Asian Development Bank said on Sunday. Bangladesh’s six mobile phone operators added 1.41 million new subscribers in April, lifting the user base to 40.34 million, according to the latest data from the telecoms regulator. “Increased demand for mobile phones, aided by affordable service from multiple operators, is the key driver of the growth in the industry,” the ABD said. Although nearly half of its people still live on less than a dollar a day, Bangladesh has been one of the world’s fastest growing cellular markets, with a mobile penetration rate of more than 26 percent. It said the significant fall in handset prices and lower duties and connection fees in the last few years have enabled low-income groups to buy. Bangladesh has the lowest average monthly cost for mobile telephone use at all levels of use — low, medium, and high — for prepaid and postpaid tariff plans, the ADB said, referring to a recent report called ‘Mobile Benchmark Studies in South Asia and Latin America’. Bangladesh’s cellphone carriers are GrameenPhone, majority owned by Norway’s Telenor Egyptian Orascom Telecom’s ORTE.CA Banglalink; AKTEL, majority owned by Telekom Malaysia International CityCell, a joint venture between Pacific Bangladesh Telecom Limited and Singapore’s SingTel Warid Telecom of the United Arab Emirates and state-run Teletalk. Grameenphone leads the market with nearly 18 million subscribers followed by Banglalink with more than 8.5 million. Several market surveys have forecast the number of mobile phone users will be around 70 million by the end of 2011.

Link: Bahrain may struggle on bids for 3rd mobile licence

Bahrain may struggle to attract bidders for its third mobile licence due for auction this year, according to analysts. “The population of Bahrain is small at close to 1mn and penetration is already more than 110% so as a market it’s not very attractive,” Arab Advisors Group analyst Andrawes Snobar told Zawya Dow Jones. Snobar said that Bahrain’s telecoms regulator will have to offer incentives for the new operator to gain a foothold in the market. Bahrain, which produces little oil, needs to raise cash by selling state assets and attracting foreign investment to help fund development as it competes with Dubai. Marise Ananian, a telco analyst at EFG-Hermes said the auction that is expected in August may yield a lower price than the recent bids for mobile licenses in the Middle East. That could make it cheaper than Egypt’s $2.9bn for a third mobile licence in 2006 when mobile penetration was just 20%, a far cry from Saudi Arabia’s third licence, which was awarded to Zain in 2007 for $6.1bn. “The auction is unlikely to raise as much as previous licences in the region,” Ananian said. Countries like Egypt, with a population of 72mn presented a more attractive commercial option for telcos, according to Ananian. Bahrain’s Telecommunications Regulatory Authority has said that although seven companies had expressed interest in the auction process initially only six said they may bid for licence. “The companies that applied are both national and international, some are from Europe and Asia,” TRA spokesman Abdulelah Abdulla told Zawya Dow Jones in a phone interview. Abdulla declined to give further details on the companies but said he expected the number to rise closer to the time bidding starts in the third quarter. “The number of responses received does not necessarily reflect the full amount of interest in the third mobile license in Bahrain, as some companies may prefer to submit their bids without expressing any interest at this time,” TRA general director Alan Horne said in a statement. The TRA added that its primary concern is to increase competition in the market and break the current duopoly of Bahrain Telecommunications Company, or Batelco, and MTC Vodafone Bahrain. “The TRA will be putting more emphasis on the quality of services and products the companies can provide to bring down prices and give better value for money,” Abdulla said. Since MTC Vodafone entered the market in 2003, it’s won a significant share of new mobile connections aided by the overall rapid growth in the market. By February 2007, it had approximately one-third of all mobile subscribers in Bahrain, though Batelco still enjoyed a market share of approximately 70%, both in terms of connections and traffic. “Bahrain may be saturated in the number of handsets but in terms of usage there’s a long way to go, the usage of video calls and mobile broadband and multimedia video streaming are still in the early stages of competition,” said Abdulla. A winner for the third mobile license will be announced on December 4.

Link: Dubai Police Issue 6,472 Traffic Fines by MMS

Dubai Police have issued 6,472 traffic fines by mobile phones during the first quarter of this year, said Lt. Col Saif Muhair Al Mazroui, deputy director general of Dubai Police traffic department. He indicated the mobile phone system saves the time and effort of police as well as the offender, as the chance of a traffic fine put on a car’s windshield flying away or getting lost is avoided. He noted that the system also will give a chance to the policemen or officers take a still picture or a video of the offending vehicles. The system includes issuing on-the-spot fines and abscentia fines. “Dubai Police are keen on keeping up with the developments in the technology field and mobile phones today are widely available. This system will make it easy for police to issue fines and record the offence. It also provides evidence in case a motorist objects to an offence,” he said.

Link: Jordan leading the “mobile” pack

In terms of mobile, Jordan has one of the most advanced markets in the world. But internet penetration remains low - an issue that features high on the regulator’s agenda for this year. For the third year running in 2007, Jordan topped Arab Advisors’ Cellular Competitive Intensity Index. With a score of 78.1%, it easily finished ahead of other Middle Eastern markets. As well as having four fully licensed operators, Jordan has the third highest number of prepaid plans, according to the consultancy group. But there is still much work that remains to be done. “I agree that the Jordanian mobile market is reasonably competitive, but I would not say that it’s fully competitive,” says Dr Ahmed Hiasat, CEO of the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC). “That can be viewed in terms of the competition between the current operators, the prices and the range of services available.” It is a testament to the market that instead of just comparing itself to its regional counterparts, Jordanian telcos are keen to compare themselves against other developed markets around the world. “We try our best to measure ourselves as not only in the region, but beyond,” says Marwan Juma, CEO of XPress, the only iDEN operator in the country. When Batelco’s Umniah acquired a mobile licence, there was talk that the market was already saturated.
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Link: Iran: Tehran opens talks over third mobile phone licence

The Iranian government has opened negotiations with inter-national telecoms operators in advance of the auction for Iran’s third mobile phone licen ce in the second half of 2008. Tehran has held talks with Etisalat, the Middle East’s largest telecoms operator, about the new licence and the possible sale of a controlling stake in the state-owned incumbent operator. “They introduced us to the people running the auction and privatisation,” says Jamal al-Jarwan, chief executive officer of Etisalat International Investments. The talks between the Communications & Information Technology and the giant UAE operator are the first evidence that the Iranian government is negotiating directly with multinational companies about the auction for the third licence, and are sure to alert rival bidders. The ministry says it expects bids from Arab telecoms operators, some European companies, as well as Russian and Chinese groups. “Some leading mobile operators across the world have voiced readiness to invest in the Iranian communications sector,” says Ahmad Parang-Nia, head of international affairs at the ministry. On 12 May, Russian telecoms company MegaFon announced it was prepared to invest about E3bn ($4.6bn) in a mobile phone business in Iran. Any company wanting to build a telecoms network in Iran from scratch would need to invest several billion dollars. Iran will hold the auction in the second half of 2008, though a date has not been set, says Al-Jarwan. Iran was the fastest-growing mobile phone market in the Gulf in 2007. The incumbent operator, Mobile Company of Iran (MCI), cut prices after South African operator MTN was allowed to enter the market at the end of 2006. MCI signed up 7.7 million customers in 2007 – more than any other operator in the Middle East – as its cheaper prices allowed lower-income Iranians to buy mobile phones for the first time. MTN’s subsidiary in Iran, which trades as Irancell, signed up 5.9 million customers in 2007. Etisalat says it would prefer a new mobile phone licence to a stake in a privatised MCI. “Normally, I prefer greenfield opportunities because things are much easier to handle,” says Mohamed Hassan Omran, Etisalat’s chairman. In September 2007, Kuwaiti telecoms operator Zain said it was interested in the sale of MCI (MEED 14:9:07). “We would definitely have to have management control,” says Ibrahim Adel, investor relations director of Zain. “If there is not a road map that leads in that direction in Iran, we are not interested.” Iran has been preparing MCI for privatisation since the summer of 2006, but the flotation of an initial 5 per cent stake on the Tehran Stock Exchange has been repeatedly delayed without explanation.

Link: UAE`s Etisalat joins race for MTN Group

Bharti Airtel is all set to face competition in its proposed bid for South African telecom major MTN Group. United Arab Emirates-based telecom company Etisalat today said that it might bid for the South African company, too. Etisalat is evaluating a possible bid for MTN as it seeks to boost revenues from the continent to at least a quarter of its total revenues in four years, Reuters reported quoting the company Chairman Mohammed Omran. “We are always looking for expansion in Africa,” Omran said at a telecom conference in Cairo. “We are evaluating MTN, among other companies,” he added. “Within three to four years, I see the revenues from Africa not less than 25 per cent of our sales,” Omran said. He did not give further details about the possible bid. On Sunday, foreign media reported that UK-based telecom major Vodafone was examining the possibility of joining the race by making a bid for MTN. This was, however, denied by the company. The MTN Group is the largest mobile operator in sub-Saharan Africa. Bharti Airtel has said it is looking at a strategic stake in MTN, which has a market capitalisation of around $37 billion. However, no concrete deal has been reached, it said. Bharti is keen to retain MTN’s management, which controls over 13 per cent of the company, and might look at unlocking its value through a negotiated deal. Brokerage firm Merrill Lynch believes that the transaction may not be “uncontested” but there are strong synergies if the deal materialises. Apart from Africa, MTN also has a large presence in West Asia and has been looking at starting operations in Pakistan and other developing nations. It is also looking at an entry in India by picking up a minority stake in Datacom Solutions, part of the Venugopal Dhoot group. Bharti Airtel, too, has been keen on opportunities in the rest of the world, even though it has a presence in Sri Lanka and Seychelles.
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