Sweden’s TeliaSonera claims it has signed the world’s first 4G contract using LTE (Long Term Evolution) technology, with an anticipated launch of services in 2010.

Oslo, the capital city of Norway, will be one of the first cities in the world to experience 4G mobile broadband in 2010

The largest telecoms operator in the Nordic and Baltic countries has chosen Ericsson for the 4G city network in Stockholm, while Huawei will deploy a similar network in Oslo, Norway.

TeliaSonera says it aims to be one of the first operators in the world to launch 4G services, and states its network will provide customers an enhanced mobility experience offering faster data speeds and larger data volumes needed for media and interactive services.

In Oslo, Huawei will provide an environmentally sustainable end-to-end LTE solution including base stations, core network and OSS (operating support system), as well as network design, implementation, systems integration and support.

Bahrain’s Batelco has become the latest operator to break into the Indian market, having inked a deal to purchase 49 per cent of Indian start-up mobile operator S Tel for US$225 million. The agreement is subject to conditions that are expected to be finalised by the end of Q109.

Batelco’s priority is to assist S Tel in rolling out its network infrastructure across six Indian states and to launch commercial services

S Tel has licences to operate in six Indian states – Bihar, Orissa, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, North East and Assam – which have a combined population of 230 million and mobile penetration of less than 20 per cent.

Batelco chief executive Peter Kaliaropoulos stated that the acquisition of the S Tel shares in partnership with Dubai-based Millennium Private Equity (MPE) will provide significant growth opportunities in the fastest growing mobile market in the world, where mobile penetration is currently growing at nine to 10 million subscribers per month.

“We explored a number of investment opportunities in India and S Tel was judged to be the most suitable investment for Batelco’s entry into the Indian telecommunications market. Our priority now is to assist S Tel to rapidly rollout network infrastructure and offer mobile services to customers,” stated Kaliaropoulos.

"The successful completion of this deal supports our growth and expansion strategy in wireless and broadband markets and boosts Batelco’s long term plans to diversify our geographical footprint and dramatically increase our scale.”

Batelco chairman Sheikh Hamad bin Abdulla Al-Khalifa added that Batelco plans to continue its regional expansion drive through targeted acquisitions of other operators and licences while maintaining its market leadership in Bahrain. The Batelco Group has subsidiaries and joint ventures in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Kuwait and Egypt.

"Our Bahrain operation is and will always be the heart of Batelco Group. However, we also have to tap into growing markets larger than Bahrain either directly or with partners in order to retain our strength and prominence at home and in the Middle East and Africa region," commented Sheikh Hamad.

Other operators that have recently entered the Indian market include Etisalat, which purchased 45 per cent of Swan Telecom for US$900 million, Norway’s Telenor which paid US$1.07 billion for 60 per cent of Unitech Wireless, and Japan’s NTT DoCoMo, which acquired a 26 per cent stake of Tata Teleservices for US$2.7 billion.

Handset manufacturer Sony Ericsson posted a fourth quarter net loss of €187 million (US$248 million), deepening from a €25 million loss in Q308, and from a profit of €373 million a year earlier.

Komiyama foresees a continued deterioration in the mobile handset market place in 2009, particularly in the first half

Handset shipments in Q408 were also down to 24.2 million, a drop of 5.8 per cent quarter-on-quarter and 21.4 per cent less than in the same quarter of 2007 when 30.8 million devices were shipped.

“In economic terms, 2008 has been a tumultuous year with world markets experiencing a serious downturn. The mobile phone market has been greatly affected by this and as expected, the fourth quarter continued to be very challenging for Sony Ericsson,” stated Dick Komiyama, president of Sony Ericsson.

“Our business alignment is progressing as planned, with the full effect of annual savings of around €300 million expected by the second half of 2009. We foresee a continued deterioration in the market place in 2009, particularly in the first half,” Komiyama added.

Revenue was up 3.77 per cent from the previous quarter to €2.914 billion, but down 22.7 per cent from fourth quarter 2007. This was attributed to contracting consumer demand and decreased availability of credit.

The average selling price per unit was €121 during Q4, with the company’s market share for the quarter estimated at eight per cent, down slightly from 8.1 per cent the previous quarter.

Qatar Telecom (Qtel) has confirmed it will commence two concurrent tender offers on January 20 in Indonesia and the United States for up to 24.19 per cent of the shares of its Indonesian subsidiary PT Indosat. This will bring Qtel’s holdings in Indosat up to a maximum of 65 per cent.

Qtel chairman Al Thani believes completion of the Indosat deal will put the operator in a strong position to push ahead with development plans for Indosat and build it into a leading regional telecoms company

Qtel will offer to purchase up to 1,314,466,755 Series B shares, which are listed on both the Indonesian and New York stock exchanges. The shares are priced at IDR7,388 (US$0.67) each, with the offer due to close on February 18.

“We look forward to a smooth completion of this process, which will put us in a strong position to push ahead with development plans for Indosat and build it into a leading regional telecoms company. This will not only enhance shareholder value, but ultimately benefit Indonesian consumers,” stated Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohammed Bin Saud Al Thani, chairman of Qtel.

Comm. previously reported the tender offer was shortly pending, following the decision taken by Indonesia’s government in December to allow Qtel to acquire 65 per cent of Indosat without having to spin-off the Indonesian operator’s fixed-line business. A previous condition stated that the Qatari operator would have to transfer Indosat’s fixed business into a separate company, as the maximum foreign ownership allowed for a fixed-line operator is 49 per cent, as opposed to 65 per cent for a mobile operator.

The mandatory tender offers were triggered by Qtel’s earlier acquisition of a 40.81 per cent stake in the Indonesian telco on June 22 last year.

Telecel Globe, Orascom’s African subsidiary, has acquired 100 per cent of Namibian’s second mobile operator Cell One for US$59 million.

Mobile penetration in Namibia stands at approximately 50 per cent of the 2.1 million inhabitants

Cell One has 198,000 active subscribers since launch in March 2007, equating to more than 20 per cent market share.

Egypt’s Orascom stated that US$32 million had already been paid in cash with the balance due in January 2010. Telecel Globe has acquired all the shares previously held by majority shareholder Norway-based Telecom Management Partner (TMP) as well as fellow shareholders, while the debt assumed as part of this transaction is non-recourse on Telecel Globe.

“Cell One is well positioned in the Namibian market to become the key provider of competitive mobile voice and data services,” commented Kai Uebach, Telecel Globe’s CEO. “This investment will further strengthen the traditionally good relationship and mutual trust between Namibia and Egypt.”

Orascom said Namibia is amongst the wealthiest countries in sub-Saharan Africa with a GDP per capita of US$5,200. The country has a population of approximately 2.1 million and a mobile penetration of close to 50 per cent at the end of 2008.

Cell One’s only mobile competitor is the Mobile Telecommunications Company which is partially owned by Portugal Telecom.

Telecel Globe’s acquisition is part of the company’s strategy to target licences and mobile operators in small and medium-sized developing countries that have high growth potential, and follows recent acquisitions of U-Com in Burundi and an operation in the Central African Republic.

Telecel Globe’s subsidiaries combined with Orascom’s operations in Algeria, Pakistan, Egypt, Tunisia, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and North Korea, brought the group’s total subscribers to 79 million as of September 30, 2008.