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The phoenix effect

At the end of March, Scott Gegenheimer completed his first full quarter as Zain Group CEO. Expectations for him to turn the Middle East player around are high, and the service provider’s operational results for the first three months of the year clearly identify the areas that require Gegenheimer’s attention. The question being whether current and future market conditions will permit him to raise Zain up to its former glory Pic 1 (1280x852)

Gegenheimer’s first full quarter as Zain CEO has seen him shift the company’s focus to several key areas, including customer experience, operational excellence and synergies, human resources, and new business areas

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An attractive model

The proliferation of independent tower operators in Africa is a clear indication that service providers on the continent acknowledge the benefits they bring and are willing to enter long-term arrangements with a growing number of them. Rhys Phillip, the recently appointed chief commercial officer of Nigeria-based IHS, details why the opportunity has met with such success in Africa Phillip_Rhys

Phillip believes that after resisting for several years, all of the major mobile operators in Africa have begun sharing towers and openly endorsing the benefits

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Strategic fulcrums

According to Karim Sabbagh, global practice leader CMT of Booz & Co., the telecom industry is facing a number of inflection points that, depending on the strategic options taken, will result in the character of service providers in the future altering drasticallyKarim Sabbagh

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Kingdom-building

In the middle of March, Virgin Mobile Middle East and Africa (VMMEA) announced that Gulf Investment Corporation (GIC) had agreed to invest US$50 million in the mobile virtual network operator (MVNO); effectively marking VMMEA’s fourth round of funding since establishment in 2007. Comm. spoke to VMMEA founder and CEO Mikkel Vinter and GIC’s Mohamed Eissa about what use the funds would be put to, and what opportunities lie ahead for this business type in the regionPic 2 - VGIC-137 (1280x708)

Photo from the signing ceremony at the Virgin Group headquarter in London, sitting down form left-to-right:  Peter Langkilde (chairman, VMMEA), Mikkel Vinter (CEO and Founder, VMMEA), Shafic Ali (director Principal Investment, GIC) and Peter Stephens (partner and global head for Telecom and Media Investments, Virgin Group). Standing up form left-to-right: Fahad Al-Nusef (vice-president for Technology and Telecom Investments, GIC) and Mohamed Eissa (head of Technology and Telecom Investments, GIC)

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Time to incorporate ‘coopetition’ in telecom

The liberalisation of many economies has resulted in numerous growth areas; and none of them has been more impressive than in the telecom sector, particularly the mobile business. However, the industry is witnessing challenges that can potentially slow the pace of further growth: eroded ARPU and increasing churn rates. Telecom operators are currently striving to work out differentiated offerings in an attempt to reduce their own subscriber defection and acquire new users from rivalsMohamed Jamoussi

Mohamed Jamoussi is a senior technical consultant with Saudi Telecom (STC). The views expressed in this article are his own

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News

Etisalat awarded 20-year licence in Benin

Etisalat Benin, a wholly owned subsidiary of Etisalat Group, has been awarded a universal service licence for the West African country. The concession gives Etisalat Benin the right to provide 3G and 4G services and any other mobile telecommunications technology that becomes available for the next 20 years.

Saudi Integrated Telecom Co. ordered to close for business

Saudi retail investors face hefty losses after a royal decree ordered the liquidation of Saudi Integrated Telecom Co. (SITC), which floated its shares in an initial public offer (IPO) in 2011 but never commenced operations. SITC’s failure highlights the dominance of speculative retail traders in the Saudi market, who chase rising prices with little regard [...]

Zain Iraq forms onshore joint-stock company in preparation for listing

Zain Group has announced that in compliance with the provisions of its telecom licence in Iraq, Atheer Telecom Iraq (Zain Iraq) is required to offer at least 25 per cent of its shares on the Iraq Stock Exchange (ISX). To that end, Zain Iraq has taken the following steps: 1. Since only Iraqi-domiciled joint-stock companies [...]

Regional Telecom launches Iraq’s first 4G network

Alcatel-Lucent and Regional Telecom, a communications service provider in Northern Iraq have celebrated the launch of Iraq’s first 4G LTE network, provided under the Fastlink brand. This constitutes the first large-scale wireless broadband services in Iraq, with Alcatel-Lucent providing its end-to-end 4G LTE solution, including base stations, IP mobile backhaul for 4G LTE and existing [...]

11 qualify for third round of Myanmar mobile licence award

As part of the third stage of the tender for two nationwide mobile licences in Myanmar, it has been announced that 11 applications were received before today’s deadline, and will now be evaluated in a process expected to be completed by June 27. Two successful bidders will be identified. Finalisation of the process and the [...]

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