Iraq cellco Asiacell Telecom has appointed Amer Al Sunna as its new CEO. The operator has more than 10.5 million, and has been led by chairman and founder Faruk Rasool and former CEO Diar Ahmed.

Al Sunna joined the Ooredoo family (Asiacell parent company) as CEO of Wi-tribe Jordan in August 2010, and in August 2011 was appointed as chief operating advisor of Wi-tribe Philippines. In February 2013 he was appointed the managing director of Asiacell Iraq.

Al Sunna brings with him 20 years of telecom experience, while outgoing CEO Ahmed, who served in his position for almost six years, will remain with Asiacell as chief advisor to the chairman.

Nokia Solutions and Networks (NSN) has opened a new office in Erbil, the capital city of Kurdistan region in Iraq. Until now the company has been operating at a different location in Erbil.

This is NSN’s fourth modern office in Iraq, with the other offices located in Baghdad, Sulaymaniyah, and Basra to support nationwide operations of its operator customers.

The office was inaugurated by Igor Leprince, head of Middle East and Africa, in the presence of Sirwan Saber Mustafa, chairman of the board, Korek Telecom; and Ghada Gebara, CEO of Korek Telecom.

Nokia has announced that it is selling the majority of its handset business to Microsoft in a €5.44 billion (US$7.2 billion) all-cash deal, while Stephen Elop has stepped down as Nokia’s CEO.

Microsoft is paying just €3.8 billion for the handset division, and a single payment of €1.65 billion to license Nokia’s patents for the next ten years. Microsoft also receives a licence for Nokia’s mapping services.

The operations that are planned to be transferred to Microsoft generated an estimated €14.9 billion, or almost 50 per cent, of Nokia’s net sales for the full year 2012.

Nokia’s CEO Stephen Elop is stepping aside as Nokia president and CEO but will stay in charge of the mobile phones division as Nokia executive VP of Devices & Services.

Following the purchase, Microsoft said that it aims to accelerate the growth of its share and profit in mobile devices through faster innovation, increased synergies, and unified branding and marketing.

For its part, Nokia plans to focus on its three established businesses — NSN, mapping and its patent portfolio.

"After a thorough assessment of how to maximize shareholder value, including consideration of a variety of alternatives, we believe this transaction is the best path forward for Nokia and its shareholders," said Risto Siilasmaa, chairman of the Nokia board of directors and, following today’s announcement, also Nokia interim CEO.

At closing, approximately 32,000 people are expected to transfer to Microsoft, including 4,700 people in Finland and 18,300 employees directly involved in manufacturing, assembly and packaging of products worldwide.

Nokia will retain its headquarters in Finland.

As part of the transaction, Nokia is assigning to Microsoft its long-term patent licensing agreement with Qualcomm, as well as other licensing agreements.

Nokia will continue to own and manage the Nokia brand, but will grant a 10-year licence to use it to Microsoft.

"Following this transaction, Nokia’s financial situation is expected to be significantly stronger and its earnings profile significantly improved," said Nokia CFO, Timo Ihamuotila. "We will have three well-positioned businesses, each a leader in its market. Overall, we will continue to focus on managing and maximising the assets of Nokia Group prudently and pragmatically to create value for Nokia shareholders."

Vodafone has finally confirmed the deal that has been rumoured for weeks, and expected for years — that it is selling its 45 per cent stake in Verizon Wireless.

The company is receiving US$130 billion for the stake, significantly higher than the US$100 billion it was estimated to be worth, but close to the amount thought necessary to secure Vodafone shareholder approval.

The deal is expected to be completed in the first quarter of next year – pending the usual regulatory approvals.

Vodafone is receiving US$58.9 billion in cash and US$60.2 billion in Verizon shares. Verizon has the right to increase the cash portion of the total consideration by up to US$15 billion, and to decrease the number of Verizon shares to be issued accordingly.

At completion, Vodafone shareholders are expected to receive all the Verizon shares and US$23.9 billion of cash totalling US$84 billion, representing 71 per cent of the net proceeds.

That the shareholders are receiving the Verizon shares is a surprise, as it had been expected that Vodafone would hold onto them, partly to profit from later sales, and partly to thwart any takeover by a US company.

As part of the deal, Vodafone will acquire Verizon’s 23 per cent minority interest in Vodafone Italy for US$3.5 billion, thereby securing full ownership of the Italian subsidiary.

If the deal falls apart due to problems by either of the two companies, then the two companies have onerous break-up fees ranging from US$1.55 billon to as much as US$10 billion if Verizon is unable to raise the funds for the cash component of the deal.

However, Verizon says that it has already secured US$61 billion as a bridging loan to pay for the deal.

Vodafone said that it also intends to implement a new organic investment programme, Project Spring, which will see further investments of GBP6 billion (US$9.33 billion) over the next three financial years to speed up the deployment of 4G services and boost 3G coverage.

Assuming completion of the transactions, Vodafone intends to increase the final dividend per share (post-consolidation) by eight per cent, while Verizon is lifting its dividend by 2.9 per cent.

Comm. has been compiling its ‘decisive dozen’ list of leading service provider executives for a number of years now, and for the first time this year has extended such a ranking to executive management from the technology suppliers’ side of the industry. We believe this inaugural ranking of technology supplier executives is timely given the closer relationships being forged between service operators and their suppliers, and the increasingly critical role telecom technology providers are playing in reducing complexity and driving growth in the industry

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