Inmarsat’s core mobile satellite services business recorded an EDITBA margin of 68 per cent in 2008, to end-December, with revenues up 13.9 per cent year-on-year to US$634.7 million, and EBITDA up 12.5 per cent to US$431.6 million.

The uptake of inflight communications has helped boost business in Inmarsat’s aeroneutical business

Pre-tax profit for the year amounted to US$193.8 million, up 56 per cent year-on-year.

For Q408, revenue was up 20.4 per cent to US$160.6 million, while EBITDA came in at US$101.4, up 18.7 per cent.

Increased demand for both voice and data services contributed to growth in maritime sector revenue of 7.2 per cent year-on-year. Growth in Inmarsat’s base of active maritime terminals was up 5.8 per cent for the year, including growth of 36.7 per cent in its base of active Fleet and FleetBroadband terminals.

Inmarsat’s land mobile sector recorded revenue growth of 12.7 per cent for the year. This performance was driven by continued growth of the company’s BGAN service, which continues to attract new users to the network and drive higher usage levels across its user base. Inmarsat’s base of active land mobile terminals was up 2.3 per cent for the year, while the number of active BGAN terminals was up 75 per cent, ending the year at 27,635.

Growth in the aeronautical sector was 45.4 per cent and was the result of sustained demand and high levels of usage for Inmarsat’s Swift 64 service, which continues to primarily serve government aircraft and business jets. Overall active aeronautical terminals were up 13.5 per cent year over year.

In the way of outlook, given that a significant proportion of Inmarsat’s revenue comes from government customers and as commercial customers tend to have a high degree of day-to-day reliance on its services, the company believes its business is well positioned against economic downturn. As a result, Inmarsat is cautiously optimistic that its business will continue to show solid revenue growth in 2009.

Africa’s largest mobile telecoms operator MTN Group counted 90.7 million subscribers at the end of December 2008, up 48 per cent year-on-year.

The increase in subscribers was driven largely by MTN Irancell and MTN Nigeria, which added 10 million and 6.6 million subscribers respectively, during the course of the year.

MTN Group CEO, Phuthuma Nhleko said the operator would consider investments outside the MEA is they made sense

Group revenue was up 40 per cent to ZAR102.5 billion (US$10.83 billion) driven by the strong growth in subscribers and the relative appreciation of operating currencies to the rand. EBITDA increased by 36 per cent to ZAR43.2 billion, while after-tax profit amounted to ZAR17.14 billion, up 43.8 per cent year-on-year.

The operator incurred expenditure of ZAR28.3 billion on CAPEX in 2008, an 84 per cent increase, while it continued to focus on evolving its networks and actively seeking infrastructure, transmission and site sharing opportunities across its operations. MTN also invested approximately ZAR250 million to gain access to significant submarine cable capacity through the SAT-3, WACS, EASSy and EIG initiatives.

In addition to sound operational performance, the depreciation of the rand against the dollar resulted in the effective appreciation of many African and Middle Eastern currencies against the rand for a major portion of the year, positively affecting the net trading results of MTN Group by approximately 15 per cent.

MTN’s West and Central Africa region continued to be the largest contributor to group revenue making up 47 per cent of total revenue, compared with 42 per cent in the prior financial year, while South and East Africa (SEA), and Middle East and North Africa (MENA) contributed 37 per cent and 17 per cent respectively.

MTN Irancell’s EBITDA margin turned positive to 30.2 per cent from negative 13.4 per cent as the business picked up critical mass. The South Africa EBITDA margin dropped two percentage points to 32.8 per cent, as a result of management’s strategic decision to invest in distribution.

Looking ahead, MTN said it remains cautiously optimistic about its prospects for 2009 in challenging trading conditions.

Strategic priorities include actively seeking value-accretive expansion opportunities in emerging markets, with a potential to act as a consolidator in the current market environment.

Zain Group CEO Saad Al Barrak is set to act as interim CEO of the mobile conglomerate’s Saudi operation, following news that the current incumbent Marwan Alahmadi shall be leaving the post at the end of March.

Alahmadi is set to leave his post as Zain Saudi Arabia CEO at the end of the month

Alahmadi is set to remain a board member of Zain Saudi Arabia, an operation that launched commercial 2G and 3.5G services in August 2008, and added 2.01 million users by the end of the year, reflecting a market share of seven per cent.

Zain spokespeople are describing the change in top management in Saudi as a planned development, though it is the first time that group CEO has taken the reins of a country operation since ascending to becoming managing director of MTC Group and later CEO of Zain Group. Information received by Comm. almost a month ago had suggested that a re-shuffle was imminent at the top of Zain Saudi.

Zain Saudi Arabia competes with STC and Mobily in the mobile space in Saudi.

“With the robustness of the Saudi economy playing a decisive role, we are very confident that Zain Saudi Arabia will be a shining star among the Zain group of companies and we expect that the huge investment in the brand and network to date will see even better results for 2009 and beyond,” commented Al-Barrak recently.

A year after India’s pre-eminent voice wholesaler and broadband telecoms provider Tata Communications rebranded from VSNL, the company’s president of global data and mobility solutions and chief operating officer, Vinod Kumar believes the company is on track with its integrated service provider model. On his first visit to Dubai since the rebranding in February 2008, Kumar speaks exclusively to Comm. about why timing is everything and how Tata Communications’ three-prong strategy is based on shifting its focus to emerging markets; developing a strong managed services practice; and leveraging its expansive IP network

Vinod Kumar believes enterprises want turnkey solutions; hence Tata Communications is focussing much of its efforts on offering managed and hosted services

In the fiscal year 2008 to end-March 2008, Tata  Communications reported consolidated revenues of approximately US$2.05 billion. Profit before taxes and exceptional items amounted to approximately US$32 million, down 57 per cent from the previous year. Tata Communications is a mammoth organisation, in which volume definitely counts, as margins for the majority of its business remain comparatively low as compared to other activities in the telecoms space.

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This year’s Mobile World Congress had a special resonance given the state of the global economy. Many punters were present to hear the prognosis for the industry in the coming 12-18 months, and while the show didn’t paint the cheeriest of pictures, neither did it paint the foulest

The barometer of the general state of the telecoms industry can best be gauged by what suppliers are saying; be they handset, infrastructure or software providers. Comm. considers the areas identified by the world’s largest equipment manufacturer Ericsson as driving the industry forward, and compares those with arguably the world’s fastest growing telecoms manufacturer, Huawei.

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