Zain today announced details of its US$4.5 billion rights issue, clarifying that application forms and the prospectus would be available at all National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) branches starting August 17.

Zain is understood to be considering further investment opportunities in markets such as Rwanda in Africa

Every Zain shareholder of record on March 10, 2008, the date the company held its ordinary and extraordinary general assembly meeting, will be eligible to subscribe to a number of capital increase shares equal to 75 per cent of the total number of shares they held on this date.

The subscription to the capital increase is set to close on September 18, 2008, and the subscription price will be 850 fils (approximately US$3.20) per share. That is a nominal value of 100 fils per share plus an issuance premium of 750 fils.

The anticipated capital increase is expected to result in proceeds of about US$4.5 billion, which will allow Zain to finance its future expansion plans as well as meet its financial commitments. Zain has set a target of being a top-ten global mobile operator by 2011.

Earlier this month, Zain CEO Saad Al Barrak stated that the operator plans to seek a listing on the London Stock Exchange in the first quarter of next year.

Research conducted by Comm. telecoms publication shows that while revenue growth for operators in the Gulf region remains in double digits, net profits are being squeezed significantly, with two operators on Comm.’s list of eight regional service providers actually reporting a fall in profitability between the first half of 2007 and the first half of 2008.

Comm. compared the first half-2008 results of eight mobile and telecoms providers across Gulf and north Africa with their performance for the corresponding period a year earlier. This exercise revealed that while organic and inorganic growth was spurring top line growth, the effects of increased competition and lower average marginal revenue per user (AMPU) was squeezing net profits.

All of Comm.’s calculations were based on local currencies in order not to distort comparisons given the slide of the US dollar against global currencies in the last year.

Omantel topped the list, recording the highest year-on-year growth in net profit between the first half of 2007 and the first half of 2008. The Omani incumbent achieved an increase in net profit amounting to 54.23 per cent over the period. This was in comparison to a 14.33 per cent rise in revenues at the telco over the same period, the net profit improvement being attributed to strong growth in mobile and broadband services.

At the other end of the scale, Batelco recorded the largest fall in year-on-year net profit, amounting to negative 2.86 per cent between the first half of 2007 and the corresponding period in 2008. The telco’s chairman, Sheikh Hamad Abdulla Al Khalifa acknowledged the highly competitive operating environment in Bahrain, noting that with 69 licensed operators in the kingdom, the telco continues to review its operating strategies in order to retain its market share.

A second regional operator also registered a year-on-year decline in net profit despite recording a 19.67 per cent rise in revenues over the period. The message to operators in the Gulf and north Africa thus appears to be that the pursuit of top-line growth without due cognisance of operational expenses could lead to profit erosion.

Details on where operators ranked in terms of year-on-year growth of net profit and revenues for the first half of 2008 will be published in the September issue of Comm., available at the beginning of that month.

Embattled Chicago-based telecoms manufacturer, Motorola, appears to be systematically re-inventing itself following numerous quarters of financial losses and human capital flight. Earlier this week the manufacturer announced the appointment of Sanjay Jha as co-chief executive officer of Motorola and CEO of Motorola’s ailing Mobile Devices business, effective immediately. Jha will be responsible for overseeing all aspects of the company’s Mobile Devices business and report directly to the board.

Sanjay Jha has his work cut out for him, charged with turning around Motorola’s misfiring handset division

Greg Brown became president and CEO of Motorola effective January 1, 2008 and the appointment of Jha will see the two executives serve as co-CEOs of Motorola. Brown has been named CEO of Motorola’s Broadband Mobility Solutions business, which consists of the Home & Networks Mobility and Enterprise Mobility Solutions businesses. Brown and Jha will share responsibility for Motorola as it moves towards separating into two independent, publicly-traded companies.

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MTN South Africa has introduced fixed roaming rates for its customers travelling across the African continent. MTN South Africa subscribers travelling to and between African countries are now able to roam on MTN networks for R5.00 (US$0.67) for all local calls within the country, calls back to South Africa, or for international calls.

South Africa is set to host the FIFA World Cup 2010 Finals, commencing in June 11, 2010

Receiving calls from anywhere or anyone will also be charged at R5.00. Sending an SMS will cost R1.50 while roaming in Africa, or R2.50, while roaming elsewhere. Incoming SMS are free. These charges remain fixed until July 31, 2010 after the final whistle has blown at the 2010 FIFA World Cup final.

MTN Roaming is structured so that MTN customers are aware of the call charges for voice calls in the international regions they travel to, before they start making use of the roaming service.

The service is applicable to MTN South Africa contract subscribers and prepaid users where applicable. There are no connection fees for any calls and all rates are charged per minute.

Apart from Africa, new fixed MTN Roaming rates have also been structured for Asia, Australia, Europe, North America and South America.

Qatar Telecom has said the delay in the disclosure of its half-yearly financial results to end-June will not exceed September 15, 2008. The Qatari telco said the delay is due to extra time required to consolidate the financial results of PT Indosat, which was acquired by Qtel in June 2008.

Qtel is aiming to becoming a top-20 global telecoms firm by 2020

Qtel commented that the delay is necessary and the telco believes the action to be in the best interests of shareholders so that the reported audited consolidated financial statements include the results of PT Indosat. Indosat is Indonesia’s second telecoms operator with a subscriber base that reached 27 million users as of end-March 2008.

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