China Mobile garnered another 7.491 million subscribers in May to reach a total of 407 million users, while China’s leading fixedline operator, China Telecom, suffered a net subscriber loss of 820,000 during the same period. This marked the 10th consecutive month of net subscriber loss for China Telecom, bringing its base to 215 million, according to monthly industrial figures published in June.
Entries from July 2008 ↓
Belden buys Trapeze for US$133 million
July 1st, 2008 — Issue 2 July/August 2008
Global cable provider, Belden, has bought prominent WLAN solution provider, Trapeze Networks for US$133 million in cash, making Belden the world’s largest unified wired and wireless solutions provider and expanding market access for Trapeze’s Smart Mobile solutions.
France Telecom drops TeliaSonera bid; eyes emerging markets
July 1st, 2008 — News
France Telecom is eyeing the acquisition of smaller companies in the Middle East, Africa and Asia, after walking away from its bid for European telco TeliaSonera.
France Telecom launched fixed-line, mobile and Internet services yesterday in Niger under the Orange brand and is considering further emerging markets acquisitions.
Finnish-Swedish company TeliaSonera rejected the French firm’s US$41.8 billion offer as too low. The French telco is known to be considering deals in Algeria and Vietnam, while analysts suggest the Egyptian operator Orascom Telecom is also being contemplated.
Emerging market magnetism
July 1st, 2008 — Issue 2 July/August 2008
Whether a deal does, in fact, come off between an India-based telecoms provider and South Africa’s MTN is not the point. What the discussions between Bharti Airtel and subsequently Reliance Communications with MTN signify is that the scope for cross-regional investment in the communications space is expanding. Just three short years ago, the acquisition of Celtel International in Africa by MTC Group (Zain Group) was viewed as a pioneering development, but since then the flow of cash across continents has evolved quickly.
