Ericsson has conducted research into what are the recurring characteristics of successful global telecom operators, and has devised six ‘growth codes’ that it believes service providers can implement in order to consolidate their development and market positions. Anders Lindblad, Ericsson’s president for the Middle East, details Ericsson’s outlook

Anders Lindblad says that operators that have learnt to maximise returns from broadband network investments are typically the ones leading their respective markets

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UAE telco Du has expressed frustration that it is still restricted to specific geographic areas in the country for its landline services, even though it is supposed to have a network sharing agreement with rival network, Etisalat.

Du’s CEO Osman Sultan voiced frustration with the situation, despite the two companies have been in negotiations for four years over the issue.

“It’s clear we are disadvantaged because of the limited geographical zone where we can connect customers. Opening this to the entire nation, it’s clearly a game changer,” Sultan told reporters on a conference call.

Du and Etisalat have settled the technical issues of sharing their networks, but have not agreed the financial details.

Du wants nationwide coverage for its landline services so that it can sell bundled products to its mobile customer base.

“Being able to bundle this properly will become more and more important – this is an important track of growth that we are deprived of today,” said Sultan.

Zain Bahrain has awarded a network upgrade contract to Ericsson, covering LTE equipment, and prepaid charging including consulting and systems integration services.

Ericsson will replace existing 2G and 3G radio network equipment while adding 4G functionality with the Ericsson RBS 6000 family of base stations. Ericsson will also deploy Evolved Packet Core with triple-access SGSN-MME and Ericsson Evolved Packet Gateway based on Ericsson SSR 8000 family of Smart Services Routers as well as MINI-LINK PT and SP for IP backhaul.

Telenor Q313 revenues were up very slightly, while net profit was also up, but hurt by currency losses.

Telenor Group reported revenues of NOK26 billion (US$4.4 billion), representing an organic revenue growth of one per cent. EBITDA before other items was NOK9.6 billion, EBITDA margin was 37 per cent, and operating cash flow was NOK5.9 billion.

Net profit came in at NOK3.92 billion as compared to NOK3.65 billion a year ago. The company absorbed a NOK502 million currency loss.

"Our effort to capture growth remains a top priority, while we will continue to drive efficiency improvements,” said Jon Fredrik Baksaas, president and CEO of Telenor Group.

"Based on the performance in the first three quarters and the outlook for the rest of the year, we revise the outlook for organic revenue growth to 1-2 per cent and capex to sales to 13-14 per cent. We maintain our guidance of around 34 per cent EBITDA margin," Baksaas added.

UAE telco Du reported that its Q313 revenues were boosted by growth in both landline and mobile divisions, while net profit soared by 45 per cent year-on-year.

Mobile revenues rose by 9.7 per cent year-on-year to AED2.05 billion (US$558 million), while landline revenues rose by 8.9 per cent to AED439 million.

Net profit increased by 45 per cent to AED474 million (US$129 million).

The mobile customer base also increased, by 15.7 per cent to 6.9 million, although landline growth was lower at 5.9 per cent to take that customer base to 587,835 at the end of September.

Du’s mobile market share remains stable at 46.4 per cent.