Incumbent Qtel and new entrant Vodafone Qatar today announced the signing of two agreements that will facilitate the launch of Vodafone Qatar’s mobile service later this year.

Senior executives from Qtel and Vodafone Qatar sign the far-reaching agreements

An outdoor site sharing agreement will allow the two operators’ to share each other’s towers, though both companies will continue to run separate active mobile networks.

The second agreement is an interconnection deal that allows Qtel and Vodafone Qatar customers to communicate with each other.

“These agreements – which have been mutually supported as fair and equitable – are a demonstration of the fact that Qtel welcomes competition,” commented Nasser Marafih, CEO of Qtel Group. “Under the agreement on outdoor site sharing, we expect that Qtel will share more than half of its mobile network towers,” he added.

Qtel claims it is the first time in the region that site sharing has been agreed, and one of the first times in the world that site sharing has been agreed between an incumbent and a second operator before full commercial launch.

“Vodafone Qatar believes the signing of these agreements is the start of an important partnership at the wholesale level with Qtel, and will support Vodafone Qatar to introduce retail competition and choice for customers” commented Vodafone Qatar CEO Grahame Maher.

Last month Maher detailed the challenges that still lay ahead of the operator commercially launching as the country’s second player, providing evidence that a commencement of operations was only likely to occur in the latter part of the year.

Disagreements over interconnection fees with incumbent Qtel still existed, with the number of base stations rolled out by Vodafone Qatar behind schedule.

Having announced the plan to offer 40 per cent of Vodafone Qatar’s stock on the Doha Securities Market earlier this week, tonight the operator offered details of what form the initial public offering is set to take.

The details of Vodafone Qatar’s IPO include:

• Subscription for the offering will open on April 12 and close on April 26, 2009.

• The IPO will consist of 338,160,000 ordinary shares, representing 40 per cent of Vodafone Qatar’s authorised share capital.

• The share price has been set at QAR10 (US$2.75) per offer share, with additional offering costs of QAR0.25 per offer share.

• Only Qatari nationals and registered Qatari institutions, which are 100 per cent Qatari owned can apply for offer shares in the offering.

• Individual investors will be able to apply for a minimum subscription of 250 offer shares with multiples of 50 offer shares thereafter.

• Institutional Investors will be able to apply for a minimum subscription of 25,000 offer shares with multiples of 500 offer shares thereafter.

• Allocation will be based on individual investors orders being allocated up to the first 2,500 offer shares of their order; thereafter institutional investors will be allocated up to the first 2,500 offer shares of their order; and after that all orders will be filled on a pro rata basis.

• International investors will be able to buy Vodafone Qatar shares on the open market once it is listed on the Doha Securities Market after the IPO.

February marked the first-year anniversary of the commercial launch of GSM services by Warid Telecom in Uganda. It has been a strong opening period, with the operator having added around 1.4 million subscribers in the period. Buoyed by such a positive market reaction to its service and offers, Warid aims to become a strong number two player in the next 18 months, having launched as the country’s fourth player

Warid Telecom’s success in adding more than 200,000 subscribers a month in its first year of operation brought it the Africa Com New Entrant Award

Uganda’s telecoms market is a bruising place, with the Uganda Competition Commission’s universal licensing scheme, launched in 2006, now in full flight. Four mobile operators offer service, with Warid Telecom Uganda being the last to enter the market, in February 2008. However, from the outset, the operator has made it clear that just because it launched fourth does not mean it has to remain in that position over time.

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Zain in a 50/50 partnership with Al Ajial Investment Fund Holding has agreed to invest an amount of MAD 2.85 billion (US$324 million) in return for a 31 per cent stake in Wana Corporate, the third mobile telecoms operator in Morocco.

Wana is an integrated telecoms operator offering fixed and restricted mobility wireless services (branded as Bayn), full CDMA mobility services (branded as Wana), and Internet and data services

This is the first time that Zain, the highly acquisitive Middle East operator, has partnered in such a manner in order to acquire a stake in an investment, and may reflect a change in acquisition ethos given the state of the global economy.

It should be noted that Al Ajial is fully funded by the Kuwait Investment Authority, which is also a 25 per cent stakeholder in Zain.

The investment by Zain and Al Ajial will provide Wana with the funding requirements and operational contributions to continue on its ambitious growth plan and to successfully launch its new GSM service later this year. Wana is an integrated telecoms operator currently offering fixed and restricted mobility wireless services (branded as Bayn), full CDMA mobility services (branded as Wana), and Internet and data services throughout Morocco.

Under the agreement Zain will assist Wana in the deployment of its GSM network. Along with the investment, Wana and Zain will enter into an operating framework agreement that will give Wana the possibility to access Zain’s expertise, purchasing power, products and services, including Zain’s ‘One Network’ roaming service.

At the beginning of February Wana was announced the winner of Morocco’s third mobile licence, though Morocco’s regulator, the Telecoms National Regulation Agency (ANRT) did not publicly state how much Wana paid for the licence.

Wana is owned by Moroccan conglomerate Omnium Nord-Africain (ONA) and said it had committed a “significant investment” as part of its bid. The operator was formerly known as Maroc Connect (MCO) and acquired a next generation wireline licence in 2006.

Morocco’s two incumbents are Maroc Telecom, majority-owned by European entertainment group Vivendi, and Medi Telecom, a joint venture between Spain’s Telefonica and Portugal Telecom.

Morocco had 22.82 million mobile subscribers as of end-2008, representing a penetration rate of 74 per cent, according to the ANRT. Maroc Telecom commands a mobile market share of 63.4 per cent, with Medi Telecom holding 34.6 per cent, and Wana Corporate serving the remaining 1.9 per cent.

Vodafone Qatar today announced the initial public offering of 40 per cent of the company’s authorised share capital and subsequent listing on the Doha Securities Market.

The Vodafone Qatar IPO subscription period will open on April 12, 2009 and will close on April 26 subject to final regulatory approvals. A full prospectus will be available from the 12 selected receiving banks from April 12, providing full details of the IPO and the company.

Vodafone Qatar CEO, Grahame Maher says much still needs to be done ahead of commercial launch in Qatar

Vodafone Qatar turned on its mobile network on March 1, and its first 1,000 customers have been asked to help test and build the mobile network. Vodafone Qatar will make announcements on its products and services in due course, with a full commercial launch only expected to occur towards the end of the year.

An IPO open night will be hosted on March 17 by Vodafone Qatar chairman Sheikh Abdulrahman Bin Saoud Al Thani; Vodafone Qatar CEO, Grahame Maher; and Qatar Foundation vice president Rashid Al Naimi.

HSBC Bank Middle East and Qatar National Bank are acting as joint financial advisers, joint lead managers, and joint lead receiving banks.

Speaking to Comm. last year, Maher quipped that upon completion of the IPO, Vodafone Qatar would be more of a Qatari company than Qtel. Vodafone’s equity participation in the consortium is set to be reduced to 23 per cent following the IPO, while the Qatar Foundation will hold a 22 per cent stake, government institutions 15 per cent; and 40 per cent will be offered to Qatari nationals.

“We are going to be a minority shareholder with management control, and this arrangement was necessary in order for us to achieve our first step in the Gulf,” Maher told Comm. last year. “This is the next level of Vodafone’s partnership model, which offers us management control and the ability to brand the operation.”