The launch of Atheeb’s WiMAX network across Saudi Arabia as the second fixed-line provider is “imminent”, Atheeb’s vice president of information technology, Craig Humphreys, told Comm. today.

Speaking on the sidelines of the TM Forum in Dubai, Humphreys confirmed that Atheeb has been commercially registered, and will launch voice and data services under the brand name of ‘Go’. He would not state how many customers Atheeb is targeting, however, he did assert the company has “lofty ambitions”.

“We aim to serve all our customers within three minutes. From the moment they are in a retail store and decide to purchase, to the moment they leave the premises, the whole process will take three minutes,” Humphreys commented.

Motorola will provide the WiMAX infrastructure, Wipro has been contracted as the systems integrator, and Chinese vendor ZTE will provide the IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) and multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) solutions.

Atheeb gained its fixed-line licence at the same time as Optical Communications headed by the US’s Verizon, and the Al-Mutakamilah Company, led by Hong Kong’s PCCW. Humphrey’s said Atheeb is far ahead of the other licensees, as neither have done an initial public offering (IPO) or been commercially registered yet.

Atheeb’s IPO took place last month and was oversubscribed by more than 350 per cent. The total number of offer shares subscribed reached 106,180,300, with total proceeds reaching SAR1.062 billion (US$283.5 million), by 1.3 million applicants.

Atheeb will compete with incumbent STC, which has approximately 4.5 million fixed-line subscribers and 1.3 million Internet users, representing penetration rates of 18.75 per cent and 5.4 per cent respectively.

Qtel has secured a US$1.5 billion credit facility, which has already been oversubscribed in the initial phase.  The Qatari operator secured the support of its relationship banks, including The Bank of Tokyo – Mitsubishi UFJ, Barclays Capital, BNP Paribas, DBS Bank and The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), as initial mandated lead arrangers and bookrunners, with Qatar National Bank as the initial mandated lead arranger and general financial advisor to Qtel.

Chairman of Qtel, Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohammed Bin Saud Al-Thani, at the award of the US$1.5 billion credit facility

These banks were joined by other relationship banks including International Bank of Qatar, JP Morgan Chase, Arab Bank, Doha Bank and Housing Bank for Trade and Finance.

Qtel’s success in launching the first stage of the facility – which is one of the largest credit facilities, and the first Forward Start Facility, executed in the GCC region so far in 2009 – provides the company with enhanced capacity to continue to execute on its strategic vision to become one of the world’s top 20 telecommunications companies by 2020. This first stage will be followed by a second General Syndication phase.

“With the successful completion of the first stage and launch of the general syndication, Qtel raised more than US$10 billion in the international bank loan markets in just over two years. This achievement marks the largest corporate financing for any corporate in the MENA region and one of the largest in the world,” commented Scott Barton, head of global banking and markets Middle East and Africa at RBS.

“The facility amplifies the strong credit story of Qtel and Qatar, as demonstrated by the strong investment grade rating assigned to Qtel by Moody’s, S&P and Fitch Ratings,” Barton added.

The Qtel Group has diversified internationally into 17 countries, with established operations in Gulf neighbors including Kuwait and Oman, and growth potential in major emerging markets including Indonesia, Iraq, Algeria, and Tunisia.

Qtel’s aggressive marketing campaigns in Qatar over the past three months ahead of the looming end of its monopoly, have added a further 300,000 mobile customers, bringing the telco’s mobile subscriber base to 1.8 million, the operator announced today.

The delay of Vodafone Qatar’s full commercial launch until the latter part of this year, will allow incumbent Qtel to further grow its subscriber base ahead of direct competition

The company had previously reported 1.5 million subscribers in November 2008 and attributes the rapid accumulation of new mobile lines to the re-launch of its Hala Pay-As-You-Talk service and its Shahry postpaid service, with lower prices and additional options. This included Shahry’s ‘One Free Number’ campaign, which enables customers to select one number they can call for free indefinitely.

“We have always said that competition would be good for the people of Qatar and good for Qtel, since it will enable us to demonstrate just how attractive our services are, and will encourage us to fully understand our customers’ needs,” commented Adel Al Mutawa, executive director of group communications.

Second operator Vodafone Qatar switched on its network overnight allowing its first 100 customers to use the service from March 10, and the remaining 900 customers in its network trial to use the service shortly after.

As Comm. reported last month, Vodafone’s launch has been fraught with challenges, including disagreement with Qtel over interconnection fees, and a network rollout that was significantly behind schedule, meaning a true commercial launch is only likely in the second half of this year.

Related stories:

Qtel to launch unified roaming plan across 17 countries

Vodafone Qatar launch fraught with challenges

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As the volume of mobile phones on the planet grows and far exceeds the number of PCs, more spammers, spoofers and virus-developers are directing their efforts at the cellular platform. Dublin-headquartered Adaptive Mobile is a company working with operators to safeguard their networks and reputations. Vice president of sales and general manager of the company’s Middle East division, Graeme Baker shares how mobile security is shaping consumers’ expectations and how it will help drive future revenues

Mobile viruses in the Middle East have made headlines in recent years with programmes such as ‘Comwarrior B’ and ‘the Guardian’ infecting thousands of handsets. Unlike PC viruses that can be prevented through software loaded on individual computers, the sheer volume of handsets makes software protection at a handset level ineffective. If one also takes into consideration the different technologies and operating software utilised in mobile devises and how quickly they are upgraded, the scope of the problem becomes even more apparent.

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Maroc Telecom has reported 2008 net profit of MAD9.5 billion (US$1.1 billion), an increase of 18.5 per cent from 2007. Consolidated annual revenue at the Moroccan operator grew by 7.2 per cent to MAD29.521 billion, generating an operating margin of 47 per cent.

Chairman of Maroc Telecom, Abdeslam Ahizoune, expects the operator to repeat a strong annual performance in 2009, with revenues to increase by three per cent

The company, which is 54 per cent owned by Vivendi, has proposed to distribute 100 per cent of its distributable income, representing a dividend yield of seven per cent.

Despite the prospect of increased competition in 2009, with the entrant of third mobile player Wana Telecom, to add to the presence of existing rival Medi Telecom, Maroc Telecom’s chairman Abdeslam Ahizoune expects the operator’s revenues to grow by three per cent this year.

“Our performance for this year will be good. Our business will remain on a strong path of growth. We have invested in new services that will generate more growth,” Ahizoune told local press.

However, analysts at Morgan Stanley have rated Maroc Telecom’s stocks as ‘underweight’ earlier this year, citing that the operator’s valuation was unattractive with the stock trading at a dividend yield of 8.1 per cent, below the peer group average of 9.2 per cent.

The analysts added that in addition to the award of a third 2G licence in Morocco, other risks to Maroc Telecom’s share performance include further regulatory restrictions on promotions and success in integrating and turning around acquired businesses.

Key value drivers for the company include a continued 100 per cent dividend payout, a stabilised fixed-line customer base, increasing broadband revenues and further room for growth with mobile penetration at 70 per cent.

Maroc Telecom commands a mobile market share of 63.4 per cent or 14.5 million subscribers, with Medi Telecom holding 34.7 per cent, and alternative provider Wana Corporate serving the remaining 1.9 per cent.

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