Lebanon’s Ministry of Telecommunications has extended Zain’s management contract of mobile operator MTC Touch by another year, and awarded Egypt’s Orascom a similar contract to manage Alfa’s network.

Orascom’s Naguib Sawiris believes the one-year management contract of Alfa paves the way for future opportunities and investment in Lebanon

The new contracts are worth US$145 million, and will come into effect from February 1 for one year, according to local reports.

Orascom will take over administration of Alfa from the ministry, following the termination of the ministry’s previous contract with Fal Dete Telecommunication. Under the terms of the contract, Orascom is required to increase the number of its subscribers from 600,000 at the end of 2008 to one million by the end of this year.

“We believe that our entry to the Lebanese market through this management contract could pave the way for further investments in telecommunications by Orascom Telecom in Lebanon at a later stage,” said Naguib Sawiris, Orascom Telecom’s chairman and CEO.

Zain is also committed to increasing MTC Touch’s subscriber numbers by an additional 400,000 from a current base of 800,000.

In June 2004, Zain commenced a four-year agreement with the Lebanese government to manage the mobile network of Mobile Interim Company 2 (MIC2), which was later rebranded to MTC Touch in 2004.

“We look forward to the privatisation of the mobile sector and are hopeful that we can secure a long term licence to operate in this promising country,” commented Zain’s CEO Saad Al Barrak.

Lebanon has some of the highest mobile charges in the Middle East, with only 1.4 million of its four million inhabitants, or 35 per cent, connected to a mobile network.

The new contracts are a bridging measure until privatisation of the cellcos takes place, following repeated delays due to the global financial situation.

When Roshan launched mobile services in Afghanistan in 2003, its goals extended beyond achieving a profit and satisfying shareholders. Today, the country’s leading GSM operator provides indirect employment to 25,000 citizens and takes a pioneering position in improving the development of economic, educational and social services. Proving it is possible to do ethically-sound business in Afghanistan and make a tangible social difference, CEO Karim Khoja shares how corporate social responsibility has not stood in the way of Roshan becoming a viable commercial operation. Michelle Mills reports

Just five years ago, if a local wanted to make a phone call in Afghanistan, he either used one of the 30,000 Thuraya satellite phones that were available and which cost US$12 per minute to use, or he walked to a neighbouring country,” recalls Roshan’s CEO Karim Khoja.

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UAE’s Etisalat confirmed today its consortium with Iran’s Tamin Telecom was the successful bidder for Iran’s third mobile licence, at a price of US$402.1 million.

Etisalat will compete in Iran with state-backed TCI and MTN Irancell, and will spend US$1 billion in building its mobile network 

The consortium plans to launch operations by the third quarter of this year and possibly earlier, the operator’s chief executive of international investments Jamil Al-Jarwan, told UAE press.

Etisalat is targeting one million subscribers in Iran within the first year of operations and has vowed to invest US$1 billion in its network rollout.

The UAE operator owns 49 per cent of the consortium that outbid consortia led by Oman’s Omantel and Malaysia’s TM International.

Etisalat will compete with the state-backed Telecommunications Company of Iran (TCI), which operates both a fixed-line and mobile network and MTN Irancell. Mobile penetration is 60 per cent of the country’s 70 million inhabitants, with TCI holding a 70 per cent market share.

The Persian operation would be Etisalat’s 19^th operation across the Middle East, Africa and Asia, with Iraq considered to be the next market the operator is interested in.

Etisalat ‘s chief financial officer Salem Ali al-Sharhan stated the company was in advanced negotiations to acquire an existing Iraqi operator, with Korek Telecom the most likely target.

The two national networks in Iraq are operated by Bahrain-based Zain and Asiacell, in which  Qatar’s Qtel has a stake.

Bahrain’s Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) has confirmed that Saudi Arabia’s STC is the only contender for the country’s third mobile licence.

STC’s financial bid will not be opened until January 22, despite being the only bidder for Bahrain’s third mobile licence

The regulator had previously announced that there were four registered bidders, although only the one submitted a bid when the auction closed yesterday.

Despite being the only company in the running, the TRA is waiting for  the technical aspects of STC’s bid to be approved before its financial bid will be opened on January 22.

The TRA stated that the Saudi operator had passed pre-qualification requirements with group revenues in excess of US$9 billion per annum, operations in Saudi Arabia and six other countries, more than 60 million subscribers and deployments of the latest technology.

The two mobile incumbents are Batelco and Zain Bahrain, with the country having a mobile penetration rate of 138 per cent as of September 2008.

STC has been a late entrant to overseas expansion, but acquiring a mobile licence in Bahrain would be its fourth significant strategic investment since June 2007.

It spent almost US$6.5 billion in its combined purchases of a 25 per cent stake in Malaysia’s Maxis, a 26 per cent stake in Kuwait’s third mobile firm Viva, and 35 per cent of Oger Telecom, which gives the operator access to Turkey and South Africa.

The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) of the UAE expects the successful bidder for the country’s first mobile TV licence to be announced in March.

TRA’s Al Ghanim said non-operator parties were welcome to submit bids for the mobile TV licence, which will offer services using DVB-H technology

The TRA confirmed it received feedback from nine separate organisations on the draft document, following the start of consultation in June 2008. However, it has not been declared how many proposals were received by the time the extended deadline closed on December 31.

“The applicants were not limited to companies having telecom licences. Any entity fulfilling the criteria set out in the document was welcomed to put in a proposal,” commented the TRA’s director general Mohamed Al Ghanim.

The proposed mobile TV service will be provided through DVB-H technology, which allows the mass broadcast of TV content as opposed to the 3G streaming already offered by UAE incumbents Etisalat and Du.