Nokia Siemens Networks is two years old and in that time has silenced early critics that the combination of Finnish and German corporate cultures would be a difficult thing to manage. Whilst the company continues to operate at a loss, its participation in the telecoms infrastructure and services space is growing all the time, and evidence of this success is no more evident than within the Middle East and Africa region

Nokia Siemens Networks headquarters in Finland

Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) reported that gross profit decreased 17 per cent to €1.1 billion (US$1.46 billion) in Q408 to end-December, compared to the corresponding period a year earlier, with a gross margin of 26.1 per cent, down from 29.7 per cent. Overall the vendor reported an operating loss of €179 million as compared with a reported break-even operating result in the fourth quarter 2007, with a reported operating margin of-4.1 per cent.

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Nigeria’s mobile communications sector added 7.15 million net new subscribers in Q408 to end-December, taking the total number of subscribers in the market to 62.99 million. The addition of 22.59 million subscribers represented a 56 per cent annual growth rate, with recent figures from the Nigerian telecom regulator NCC showing that a further 1.17 million mobile subscribers were added during January 2009 to raise the country’s end-January total to 64.16 million.

GSM market leader MTN recorded a gain of 2.91 million in Q408 – a Nigerian record. It ended the year with 23.08 million users, almost 6 million ahead of nearest rival Zain, which ended the year with 17.20 million users. Having wrestled second place from Glo Mobile in Q308, Zain consolidated its lead in Q4, adding 1.29 million customers compared to the 630,000 added by Glo Mobile, which ended the year on just over 16 million users.

The two remaining GSM networks in Nigeria are government-owned Nitel, which counted 260 million customers at the end of the year, and the latest entrant Etisalat, which managed to added almost 400,00 customers in its first quarter of operation.

There are now four mobile CDMA networks operating in Nigeria, and they contributed to the quarterly gain. On aggregate, they added 1.93 million customers in Q4, only just behind the record gain of 2.01 million recorded in the previous quarter. This took the total mobile CDMA customer base 6.05 million at the end of the year; although the NCC’s figures show that there was a net loss in January, driving the base back down to 5.87 million.

In terms of individual operators’ performances in Q408, Visafone added 980,000 subscribers, ending the period with 2.21 million compared with the 1.99 million subscribers on Multi-Links’ network. The former leading CDMA operator in Nigeria added 510,000 subscribers in the quarter. Meanwhile, Starcomms added 360,000 users in Q408 to break the one million barrier, ending the quarter on 1.16 million users. Reliance is Nigeria’s fourth CDMA operator and was able to garner 70,000 subscribers in its first two months of operation to end-2008.

It’s not new that broadband technology is revitalising the fixed line business as operators look to cash in on the runaway demand for data. What is new is the ways in which service providers are adapting their business models in order to garner as many users as possible, and the alliances they are forming with content and Internet players in order to remain relevant in the data revolution

The annual Broadband Global Summit held in Dubai last month brought together stakeholders excited with the prospect of creating an ecosystem that would hopefully enhance their relevance in the developments to come, while seeing them generate significant additional revenues from the new services being introduced.

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North Korea’s nascent mobile operator, and the country’s first private player, is reported to have added 20,000 subscribers, having launched at the end of last year. The customers are reported to include foreigners allowed to work in the country.

Last year, Orascom Telecom, which owns 75 per cent of the mobile network joint venture through its CHEO Technology subsidiary, said that it expected to sign up an initial 100,000 subscribers within the first few months of commercial launch.

Network coverage, which includes 3G, has been extended beyond Pyongyang and now reported to include the main road running up to the northern city of Hyangsan. National coverage is expected by 2012.

The remaining 25 per cent of the network operator is owned by the state owned Korea Post and Telecommunications Corporation.

Mobile communications were only introduced into North Korea in 2003, but their use was initially restricted to government officials.

Axiom Telecom, today confirmed it is to open 135 new retail outlets in the Middle East and Southwest Asia, predominantly in India and Saudi Arabia, pushing its total number of retail outlets in the region past the 900 mark.

The significant expansion is in line with the company’s growth strategy, which prioritises development in core markets.

Faisal Al Bannai once harboured ambitions to launch a regional MVNO

Axiom has also confirmed its operations in Egypt will shift focus and resources towards high growth opportunities within the telecoms sector with its strategic partner Etisalat. Axiom will continue to provide after-sales service to its customers with a two-year warranty through service centres in Shobra and Alexandria.

Company CEO, Faisal Al Bannai, has said that the next 12 months will see appreciable consolidation across the region’s mobile phone sector. He believes this will provide further market share opportunities for Axiom, which has strong cash flow.

“We want to be the market leader in every country in which we operate. Our strategy is to be the best, not to be present in every country for the sake of market representation,” Al Bannai said.

The announcement of the expansion in its network is an impressive bounce-back from last July when it made several senior and junior staff redundant. Prior to that wave of redundancies Axiom counted 1,700 employees across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, London, Egypt and India.