Oman’s telecoms sector has come alive, with a number of licensing processes following fast after each other, which will result in the market becoming one of the most competitive in the Gulf. Things are also afoot at the incumbent operators, Omantel and Nawras, making the atmosphere in the telecoms sector crackle with anticipation.

The announcement of the process to award Oman’s second fixed licence has attracted much domestic interest, though its international appeal is yet to be tested

Between 2005 and 2007, Omantel’s subscriber base grew 14 per cent year-on-year, while revenues grew 16 per cent to US$950 million at the end of 2007. EBITDA grew 21 per cent year-on-year to US$502 million at the end of the same period, while net income grew by 29 per cent to US$293 million.

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Delta Partners was established by a group of ex-Diamond Cluster (now Oliver Wyman) employees in Dubai in the second half of 2006, and has since expanded rapidly in three core areas. Delta Partners specialises in the telecommunications media and technology sectors, servicing the industry through advisory services, private equity and corporate finance facilities. In the middle of this year Delta Partners established an office in Johannesburg, headed up by managing partner Kristoff Puelinckx, who details the rationale behind the expansion.

Johannesburg is not a new city to Delta Partners’ Puelinckx, who says the company has worked with a number of companies in South Africa over the past few years. Hence, it is a natural progression for the company to establish a presence in the country and actively bolt down networking relationships and prospective deals.

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Earlier this year Etisalat announced the commencement of a trial with a local bank to utilise Near Field Communication (NFC) in order to support an array of mobile payment transactions. The initiative is a pioneering one given the few examples of commercial NFC deployments any where in the world. Comm. goes in search of what are the technology’s drivers, positioning and prospects.

A joint initiative between Etisalat and Emirates National Bank of Dubai to pilot Near Field Communication (NFC) is a move that many of the technology’s supporters and detractors will no doubt be paying attention to in order to ascertain whether a solution has finally been developed to fully leverage the mobile device’s natural affinity to banking and payment settlement services.

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At the beginning of this month Egypt’s leading mobile operator Mobinil launched 3G services, covering large cities, tourist, industrial and corporate centres in Cairo, Alexandria, Sharm El Sheikh, Hurghada, Dahab, Taba, Safaga, Marsa Alam, Luxor and Aswan.

Mobinil has been hard at work revamping its network in preparartion for the launch 3G earlier this month

Since agreeing to purchase the 3G licence, Mobinil has since increased the number of installed base stations to more than 6,500, out of which 700 3G base stations and more than 2,100 EDGE-enabled base stations are in place.

Nokia Siemens Networks, along with Huawei has developed Mobinil’s 3G network, while Alcatel-Lucent and Motorola cooperated with Mobinil to establish the 2G portion of the network. This is in addition to the cooperation with Cisco Systems and Ericsson to develop and enhance the network infrastructure.

In April this year Mobinil did say it would delay the introduction of 3G services and payment of an EGP750 million (US$138 million) instalment on the licence fee by about two and a half months. At the time, the operator said the delay was necessitated because the regulatory authorities were late in handing over the frequency band needed for Mobinil to conduct the necessary tests before commercial service began.

Mobinil had been meant to receive the frequency band on January 17 but the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA) did not say it was available until March 27, according to Mobinil.
Mobinil is the last of Egypt’s three mobile operators to launch 3G services, having initially refused to pay the licence fee asked by the NTRA.

“The licence condition set the value of a 3G licence (for the incumbents Mobinil and Vodafone Egypt) at 20 per cent of the price of the 2G/3G licence awarded to the third operator,” explained Alex Shalaby, CEO of Mobinil at the beginning of last year. “We thought this was high and elected not to bid for 3G at this time.” Etisalat bid US$2.9 billion to win Egypt’s third mobile licence, valuing the amount required to be paid by the incumbents for 3G licences at US$580 million each.

Alcatel-Lucent’s board yesterday approved the appointment of Ben Verwaayen as the company’s chief executive officer. Verwaayen, 56 is a Dutch national who was formerly CEO of BT between February 2002 and June 1, 2008. He is credited with turning the former UK utility into a leading edge communications company, which enjoyed a dramatic and dynamic new image.

Ben Verwaayen had previously been approached to head Alcatel-Lucent, but was reported to have previously turned the offer down

Verwaayen was also formerly vice-chairman of the management board of Lucent Technologies in the US, which he joined in September 1997. Prior to that, he worked with KPN in the Netherlands for nine years as president and managing director of its telecoms subsidiary, PTT telecom. Before that, Ben worked for ITT, a predecessor of Alcatel.

Verwaayen had been identified as an early choice to succeed outgoing Alcatel-Lucent CEO Patricia Russo, but was reported to have turned down the initial approaches some weeks ago. Further conversations and Alcatel-Lucent’s inability to identify any other suitable candidates must have resulted in further talks being entered into, which resulted in the French/US manufacturer eventually securing its man.

The Alcatel-Lucent board also announced the appointment of Philippe Camus as the company’s non-executive chairman as of October 1, 2008. Philippe Camus, 60 is a French national and a US resident. He was the co-CEO at European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS) and managed a large, global business in the high-tech industry. He is co-managing partner of Lagardère, an international media group, and a partner of Evercore Partners, a New York based investment and advisory firm.

“Philippe Camus and Ben Verwaayen are respected and experienced business leaders. Their understanding of this industry with its challenges and opportunities make them the perfect choice to lead and guide Alcatel-Lucent as it moves into this next stage in its development,” said the board in a written statement.

“Alcatel-Lucent has a lot to offer: technological excellence, leading market positions worldwide, in developed as well as emerging countries and a strong customer focus,” Verwaayen commented. “The company operates in a quickly changing market and therefore is evolving. I’m truly delighted to become the CEO of Alcatel-Lucent, leading a company with vast assets and great talents, while recognising the difficulties and challenges ahead.”

Verwaayen’s office will be in the company’s headquarters in Paris.