Jay Srage, Qualcomm’s SVP and president for MEA and South East Asia talks to Comm. about the company’s prospects in the region, and why it has been so successful in converting the mobile broadband opportunity

Srage was appointed to oversee Qualcomm’s activities in South East Asia earlier this year

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STC has awarded contracts to both Huawei and Comptel, with Huawei noting it had won a four-year managed services contract.

NSN currently manages STC’s GSM and 3G radio networks and it is not clear if the Huawei deal affects that agreement.

Comptel noted that it has been awarded a contract to support its fulfilment architecture — the order workflow and management of assets.

The Kenyan government has given Airtel a further three years to comply with local shareholder limits.

The mobile network is required to have at least 20 per cent of its shares owned by local residents, but only five per cent of its shares are owned by Kenyans at the moment. The rest is owned by the Indian company.

The rules relating to foreign shareholder limits have been relaxed in recent years where a company can show that it is genuinely struggling to find a local shareholder.

Airtel has been trying to find a buyer for its surplus 15 per cent stake since it acquired the company in 2010, but as it is still a loss making subsidiary, investors have been unwilling to participate.

Earlier this year it was suggested that Airtel may list its shares on the local stock market in order to comply with the shareholder regulations. However, the stock market requires a company to have posted three years’ worth of profits before they can seek a listing.

Algerian cellco Nedjma has officially rebranded as Ooredoo. Recognising the strong emotional link that many people have with the Nedjma brand, the company will continue to use both the Nedjma and Ooredoo logos during the transition period of the rebrand.

As part of the rebrand, the company headquarters in Algiers, two major brand offices, and all of the stores have been rebranded.

In parallel with the rebrand, Ooredoo is rolling-out a new 3G service in Algeria.

Vodafone Qatar reported H1 revenue to September grew by 33% per cent year-on-year from a combination of strong customer growth and an improving ARPU, which resulted in more than a doubling of EBITDA year-on-year.

Half-year operational highlights included:

– 1.19 million mobile customers as at end-September; up 27 per cent year-on-year

– Total revenue of QAR 925 million (US$254 million) for the six months to end-September 2013; representing 33 per cent growth over the same period last year

– Mobile ARPU increased by five per cent to QAR124

– EBITDA reached QAR 210 million for the six months; an improvement of 105 per cent year-on-year 

– Reduction in net loss to QAR 160 million for the six months from QAR 240 million in the previous period