Zain Saudi Arabia has deferred repayment on a US$2.4 billion loan by a further four weeks, the company announced.

In a statement to the Saudi stock exchange, the company delayed repayment of the Murabaha facility until February 27. It had been due to be repaid last year, but the company has struggled to raise the funds to rollover the debt.

The company also warned that the new deadline may be extended again if it cannot secure an agreement with lenders. The company has already paid back US$750 million of the debt, and last year raised US$1.6 billion in a rights issue from shareholders.

Zain KSA has found operating in the local market particularly challenging since paying US$6.1 billion for an operating licence in August 2008.

Zain Group owns a 37 per cent stake in the Zain KSA and failed in an attempt in 2011 to sell its holding to Batelco.

China Mobile is said to be looking at investing in five new markets, suggesting that the world’s largest mobile operator is considering a rare foray overseas.

According to a report in China’s English-language Morning Whistle newspaper, China Mobile is planning “analysis of the macroeconomic investment environment in five countries,” notably Germany, South Africa, Brazil, Portugal, and North Korea.

The operator is said to have invited bids from several consulting firms to conduct the studies.

China Mobile’s only venture outside of its home market to date has been in Pakistan. In 2007, the company paid US$560 million for the country’s fifth-largest mobile network Paktel. But the subsidiary – now known as CMPak – has not gained much market share and remains a minor player in a crowded market.

Explaining China Mobile’s lack of international expansion since, Wang Jianzhou, the cellco’s chairman, said last year that the company had been held back by high prices.

“We saw opportunities [overseas], but the prices are far too high,” he said. “That’s why China Mobile has made little progress in overseas expansion in recent years.”

MTN Ghana has had the sales ban imposed on it by the regulator last November lifted and can again start signing up new customers.

The ban was imposed by the regulator, the NCA following complaints about network quality of service and outages.

In a statement, the NCA said that since the end of November 2012 when the ban was imposed, the authority had been monitoring key performance indicators on the network and has seen an improvement in performance.

The company has also been working with the regulator to develop an on-going upgrade programme for the network.

"Considering the continual improvement and the aforementioned engagement with the Authority to improve customer experience, the Authority, with immediate effect, has lifted the directive of November 30, 2012 to MTN to cease selling and/or adding new SIM cards/subscribers to MTN network until further notice," the NCA said on its website.

Belkin, a private company based in California, with operations and sales in more than 100 countries, announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Cisco’s Home Networking business unit, including its products, technology, well-known Linksys brand and employees. With global operations, Linksys’ main office is also located in California.

Belkin intends to maintain the Linksys brand and will offer support for Linksys products as part of this transaction. All valid warranties will be honoured by Belkin for current and future Linksys products. After the transaction closes, Belkin will account for approximately 30 per cent of the US retail home and small business networking market.

Belkin and Cisco intend to develop a strategic relationship on a variety of initiatives including retail distribution, strategic marketing and products for the service provider market. Having access to Cisco’s specialised software solutions across all of Belkin’s product lines will bring a more seamless user experience for customers. Merging the innovation capabilities of Linksys and Belkin provides a powerful platform from which to develop the next generation of home networking technology.

Specific financial terms of the transaction are undisclosed. The transaction is subject to various standard closing conditions and is expected to close in March 2013.

Ericsson today announced the appointment of Victoria Strand as head of the GCC and Pakistan Unit, part of the Ericsson Middle East Region. In her new role, Strand will be responsible for handling the company’s customer relations, further developing the skill level of employees and focusing on business growth. Based in Ericsson’s Dubai office, Strand will oversee the telecom giant’s operations in the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Yemen and Pakistan.

“Victoria has been an integral part of the Ericsson organisation for over 20 years,” said Anders Lindblad, president of Ericsson Middle East Region. “We’re very happy to have Victoria on board in the region and we are confident that she will utilise her unique experience and expertise to continue to expand our presence in the region, and ensure that our customers’ demands for the latest communication technology are met.’

Strand, who is a Mechanical Engineering and Business Administration graduate of the University of Linkoping in Sweden, began her career at Ericsson in 1989 in Sweden as an area sales manager for the Soviet Union. Since then she has held several positions within the company in areas such as project management, product management, technical sales support, HR and communications.