Unitech Wireless, an Indian GSM licensee in which Norway’s Telenor is purchasing a 60 per cent stake, has signed tower sharing agreements with Wireless-TT Info Service Limited – Tata Teleservices’ tower subsidiary – and Quippo Telecom Infrastructure Limited. Tata Teleservices has also agreed to provide transmission to the new mobile operator.

Unitech Wireless has the rights to use 40,000 towers from Tata and Quippo, with 22,000 sites to be available by April 2009

The tower sharing agreement allows Unitech Wireless to mount its mobile network antennas onto existing towers owned by Tata and Quippo, as well as any new towers that are built. The two India tower companies are currently in the process of merging their businesses to become one of the country’s largest tower companies.

Telenor said the agreement covers approximately 40,000 sites, of which approximately 22,000 sites will be in place by April 2009. The remaining towers will be built in 2009 and 2010 in accordance with Unitech Wireless’ needs. The tower sharing and transmission agreements both have 20-year terms with options to extend the contracts for a subsequent 5-year period.

"The tower and transmission agreements are key elements in the process of closing our Unitech Wireless deal, and will enable Unitech Wireless to embark on a swift and cost-efficient roll-out," stated Jon Fredrik Baksaas, president and CEO of Telenor.

Unitech Wireless has licences to roll out its network in all 22 of India’s telecommunications circles and Telenor announced its intention to buy the majority stake in Unitech Wireless in October 2008 for US$1.07 billion.

The Nordic company decided last month to withdraw its rights issue to fund the investment in the Indian company, and would instead finance it through a combination of cash flow and issuance of additional debt. Telenor is scheduled to present its Indian investment case to investors and analysts on February 13.

Alfa, Lebanon’s second GSM operator, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) to roll out the country’s first 3G trial network, to go live by June this year.

The network will cover universities in the greater Beirut area as part of a University Cooperation Programme, and will include coverage of the American University of Beirut, ESIB University and the Universite Libanaise. The programme aims to raise awareness among university students of 3G services, and will terminate on December 31, 2009.

NSN will provide the required 3G radio equipment, sponsor the marketing campaign, and coordinate with the universities and other related parties to launch the programme.

State-owned Alfa started a one-year management contract with Egypt’s Orascom Telecom, from February 1. Orascom is charged with increasing the number of Alfa’s mobile subscribers from 600,000 at the end of 2008 to one million by the end of this year. Alfa’s competitor MTC Touch is managed by Kuwait’s Zain under a similar contract, and had 800,000 customers as of December last year.

The GSM Association’s (GSMA) Mobile World Congress takes place this month, with the spotlight firmly on how industry stakeholders intend to sustain growth during the global economic slowdown. GSMA’s incoming chief marketing officer Michael O’Hara tells Michelle Mills what he believes will be the defining topics at this year’s Congress

This year’s Mobile World Congress is likely to be used by many industry players to gauge just how exposed the telecoms sector is to the global financial crisis, and more importantly what impact recession is likely to have on the market moving forward. For its part, the GSM Association (GSMA), which represents more than 750 mobile operators and 200 manufacturers and suppliers in 219 countries, is looking to calm nerves of those who would suggest the global telecoms sector is facing tough times in the short and medium term.

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The latest addition to Kenya’s telecoms market, Econet Wireless Kenya trading under the brandname ‘Yu’, has secured a KES35 billion (US$450 million) loan to fund its mobile network rollout, just days after the company’s CEO Michael Foley resigned.

Michael Foley, CEO of Econet Wireless Kenya resigned last week amid reports of unpaid suppliers and a struggle to gain funds to continue Econet’s network rollout

Comm. reported in December that there were suggestions the fourth mobile operator could not finance the rollout of the network in its own right, and was rescued by Indian mobile telecoms company Essar Communications Holdings, a subsidiary of Essar Global, which acquired a 49 per cent stake in the Kenyan licensee.

Local media have reported that Econet has had problems securing credit during the global financial slowdown, adding that since launch in Nairobi in November, the company has offered drastically reduced prices as part of its initial marketing campaign, with little margin for profit.

CEO and managing director Michael Foley unexpectedly resigned last week just six months after he was appointed in the role. Local reports say he quit “to protect his integrity in the midst of a tightening in the company’s liquidity caused by delay in securing credit”, amid reports of struggling to pay suppliers.

Acting-managing director Srinivasa Iyengar said Yu will launch in Mombasa next week and is in negotiations for an infrastructure sharing agreement with an incumbent operator. The company said it has signed 60,000 subscribers and aims to have a subscriber base of three million by the end of 2011.

Safaricom dominates the Kenyan telecoms scene with 82.3 per cent market share, followed by Zain with 17.6 per cent, according to the Mobile World database. Third operator Telkom Kenya (Orange) has recently started mobile services. The country’s mobile penetration rate stands at 36 per cent.

SmartSat, the first private satellite company in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region launched yesterday with startup capital of US$500 million, and intentions to bring prices down in the region’s wholesale satellite services industry.

SmartSat’s chairman and managing director Khaled Derbas said in addition to the MENA region, SmartSat will look at other international markets such as Eastern Europe

SmartSat is backed by Smartlink, the private Jordanian shareholding company that operates as a global broadband satellite provider in the MENA and Eastern Europe, and a Kuwaiti investment holding company which has not been named.

The company to be headquartered in Dubai, aims to serve the region’s internet service providers (ISPs), GSM operators, broadband technology solutions providers, television stations, ministries of communication, military agencies and companies dealing with data systems. SmartSat also plans to serve other international markets such as Eastern Europe.

“SmartSat aims to become a leading global private satellite service provider and it is keen to provide high-quality services at competitive prices. Furthermore, it is also our goal to create an environment of healthy competition in the MENA, which will ultimately benefit all consumers in general, and the satellite services sector in particular,” commented Khaled Derbas, SmartSat’s chairman and managing director.

The company plans to leverage the strong performance of the region’s satellite industry, whose commercial satellite-lease revenues reached a value of US$752 million in 2007, according to a recent study by Euroconsult and The London Satellite Exchange. The adoption of HDTV is also an opportunity for growth with worldwide satellite-delivered HDTV channels forecasted to grow to 350 per cent by 2013, according to the 2008 State of the Satellite Industry Report.