Expresso Telecom, the international investment arm of Sudanese operator Sudatel, has kept a low profile as it has gone about acquiring greenfield and operational CDMA operators in West Africa in the past few years. As the company prepares for significant investment into its subsidiaries and for a shareholder restructuring programme, chief financial officer and acting CEO Emad Sukker shares with Michelle Mills how the company intends to grow organically, while extending its geographical footprint

Dubai-based Expresso Telecom focuses on operating CDMA mobile networks across West Africa, having acquired Intercellular in Nigeria and Kasapa in Ghana, as well as new licences in Mauritania and Senegal. Chief financial officer and acting CEO Emad Sukker says the company is trying to distinguish itself in the realm of CDMA technology, which Sudatel also uses for its mobile network in Sudan.

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As the telecoms industry weathers turbulent times, this year’s Mobile World Congress focussed on both opportunities and risks for the year ahead. Hot topics included mobile broadband, application stores, the new financial environment, and smart cooperation. Value Partners’ Santino Saguto explains

Santino Saguto, partner and managing director of Value Partners Dubai

More than ever, this year’s Mobile World Congress was an important test of the mood of an industry starting to feel the pinch of the economic downturn. However, despite the general gloom, the mobile industry showed many reasons for optimism. A few chief executives, including Vittorio Colao, CEO of Vodafone, pleaded for government action or a lift of “regulatory activism”, to encourage investment in networks and help the telecoms industry to help pull countries out of recession.

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Last month representatives from the CDMA community in Africa met in Cape Town for their annual stock-taking event, which was focussed on assessing the progress the technology continues to make on the continent. Jay Srage, Qualcomm’s vice president of business development for the Middle East and North Africa, offers his view on the impact wireless technology is having in emerging markets

Qualcomm’s Jay Srage believes mobile computing has opened up an entirely new market segment category full of opportunities for the wireless industry

As borders blur and people become more mobile than ever before, what it means to be mobile has begun to fundamentally change. The wireless industry has not escaped this shift. No longer limited to mobile handsets, wireless connectivity has evolved into a broadband technology with global reach, diversified into new device segments and expanded into new markets that either did not exist before or have never been quite so connected. Connected mobility has become a must-have, and mobile devices are gaining ever-greater personalisation and functionality, blurring the lines between what used to be very distinct market segments.

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Since it was established in 1994, Comium Group has witnessed an evolution, growing into a telecoms group spanning four continents with operations in a number of countries, from Cote d’Ivoire to Lebanon, France, Brazil and the US.

Founded and chaired by Nizar Dalloul, Comium has honed its know-how and expertise through the years, allowing it to manage and operate GSM networks in four West African countries while offering Data and VoIP services in the Middle East, Europe, Africa, and the Americas. Operating in Africa for over half a decade, Comium has served nearly two and a half million customers and has become a staple and an integral part of African communities.

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The mobile industry is adopting green policies in line with global initiatives to focus on sustainable and renewable power sources and lessening climatic impact on the environment. Developing markets have been quick to trial and adopt these new initiatives – both from a corporate social responsibility perspective, as well as in order to reduce OPEX associated with maintaining off-grid base stations (BTS) in challenging environments. Green Giraffe’s Michèle Scanlon reports

Markets such as India and Nigeria are often cited as examples
of the high cost of power as related to the operation of diesel-powered generators. In 2008, Indian operators used an estimated two billion litres of diesel to power their networks. OPEX splits from operators indicate that on average a third of OPEX is directly attributable to power and fuel consumption whilst in rural areas this exceeds 50 per cent of OPEX. Similar issues face most operators in developing markets. Caribbean and South Pacific operator Digicel reports it spent US$11 million on diesel in 2008 to power its Haitian network, though a generator/ battery hybrid solution has already proven to show 35 per cent savings in diesel OPEX in trials in the country.

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