Omani telco Nawras today announced four new appointments within the senior management team.

Said Ahmed Safrar is promoted to chief customer experience officer and a member of the executive committee team, while Hussain Al-Lawati is promoted to acting chief sales & distribution officer. Wolfgang Wemhoff joins Nawras as chief technical officer while Jim Maxwell is promoted to chief counsel.

Maxwell joined Nawras as director of legal affairs in 2007, while Wemhoff is an experienced international executive with a strong customer centric orientation and expertise that he has developed in companies including Mannesmann in Germany and Vodafone in Germany and Turkey.

For the nine months to end-September 2011, the Zain Group announced consolidated revenues of KWD 988.1 million (US$ 3.58 billion), reflecting a 2.2 increase year-on-year. Net income increased to KWD 210.2 million, up seven per cent on the same nine month period in 2010. The company’s consolidated EBITDA reached KWD 444.4 million, up four per cent on the corresponding period in 2010, reflecting an EBITDA margin of 45 per cent.

Year-on-year customer growth across all Zain operations was 17 per cent, with the operator counting 41.4 million managed active customers as of end-September 2011. The Zain Group added 6.1 million new active customers over the past 12 months.

Qtel Group reported revenues increased by 16.6 per cent year-on-year for the nine months to the end of September, amounting to QAR 23.6 billion (US$6.48 billion).

Revenues in the third quarter alone were up 16.5 per cent to QAR8.127 billion, while EBITDA for the three months amounted to QAR3.73 billion, up 14.1 per cent year-on-year.

However, net profit attributable to Qtel’s shareholders in Q3 was down 13 per cent to QAR567 million.

The group’s consolidated customer base, as at September 30, 2011 stood at 82.4 million, up 19.4 per cent year-on-year. Group EBITDA for the nine months to end-September was up by 14.6 per cent to QAR 10.9 billion while the operator maintained a stable EBITDA margin for the nine months, standing at 46 per cent, down from 47 per cent a year earlier.

Net profit attributable to Qtel’s shareholders increased by 6.4 per cent when normalised for a one-off favourable decision on the royalty regime in Qatar in 2010. The net profit amount attributable to Qtel shareholders for the nine months to end-September stood at QAR 2.0 billion, up from QAR1.9 billion a year earlier.

Egypt’s Naguib Sawiris has confirmed that he is in discussions with France Telecom regarding a bid for the company’s Swiss subsidiary, Orange Switzerland.

He is currently in talks with other partners to raise the US$2.8 billion needed for the deal.

"I wouldn’t do it alone," Sawiris told Bloomberg News in a telephone interview. "We are looking for partners." Sawiris, the founder of Orascom Telecom Holding, said four bidders have been selected to make offers, with final bids due by the end of the year.

He also confirmed that he has no plans to for any sort of asset swap with France Telecom – which is a co-owner of Mobinil network in Egypt.

Sawiris has also been linked with a possible takeover of Telekom Austria.

Motorola Mobility posted third quarter revenues up by 11 per cent at US$3.3 billion and a net loss of US$32 million, compared to a loss of US$34 million for the same period a year ago.

During the three months, the company shipped 11.6 million mobile devices, including 4.8 million smartphones, and approximately 100,000 Motorola Xoom tablets.

Mobile Devices net revenues in the third quarter were US$2.4 billion, up 20 per cent compared with the year-ago quarter. The operating loss was US$41 million compared to an operating loss of US$43 million in the year-ago quarter.

Home segment net revenues in the third quarter were US$825 million, down 10 per cent compared with the year-ago quarter. GAAP operating earnings were US$54 million, compared to US$49 million in the year-ago quarter.