MTN Ghana has had the sales ban imposed on it by the regulator last November lifted and can again start signing up new customers.

The ban was imposed by the regulator, the NCA following complaints about network quality of service and outages.

In a statement, the NCA said that since the end of November 2012 when the ban was imposed, the authority had been monitoring key performance indicators on the network and has seen an improvement in performance.

The company has also been working with the regulator to develop an on-going upgrade programme for the network.

"Considering the continual improvement and the aforementioned engagement with the Authority to improve customer experience, the Authority, with immediate effect, has lifted the directive of November 30, 2012 to MTN to cease selling and/or adding new SIM cards/subscribers to MTN network until further notice," the NCA said on its website.

Belkin, a private company based in California, with operations and sales in more than 100 countries, announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Cisco’s Home Networking business unit, including its products, technology, well-known Linksys brand and employees. With global operations, Linksys’ main office is also located in California.

Belkin intends to maintain the Linksys brand and will offer support for Linksys products as part of this transaction. All valid warranties will be honoured by Belkin for current and future Linksys products. After the transaction closes, Belkin will account for approximately 30 per cent of the US retail home and small business networking market.

Belkin and Cisco intend to develop a strategic relationship on a variety of initiatives including retail distribution, strategic marketing and products for the service provider market. Having access to Cisco’s specialised software solutions across all of Belkin’s product lines will bring a more seamless user experience for customers. Merging the innovation capabilities of Linksys and Belkin provides a powerful platform from which to develop the next generation of home networking technology.

Specific financial terms of the transaction are undisclosed. The transaction is subject to various standard closing conditions and is expected to close in March 2013.

Ericsson today announced the appointment of Victoria Strand as head of the GCC and Pakistan Unit, part of the Ericsson Middle East Region. In her new role, Strand will be responsible for handling the company’s customer relations, further developing the skill level of employees and focusing on business growth. Based in Ericsson’s Dubai office, Strand will oversee the telecom giant’s operations in the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Yemen and Pakistan.

“Victoria has been an integral part of the Ericsson organisation for over 20 years,” said Anders Lindblad, president of Ericsson Middle East Region. “We’re very happy to have Victoria on board in the region and we are confident that she will utilise her unique experience and expertise to continue to expand our presence in the region, and ensure that our customers’ demands for the latest communication technology are met.’

Strand, who is a Mechanical Engineering and Business Administration graduate of the University of Linkoping in Sweden, began her career at Ericsson in 1989 in Sweden as an area sales manager for the Soviet Union. Since then she has held several positions within the company in areas such as project management, product management, technical sales support, HR and communications.

Nawras today reported that it generated the highest ever quarterly revenue in Q412, amounting to OMR51.4 million (US$133.5 million), up 1.2 per cent year-on-year. Growth was supported by fixed and mobile data and international voice revenue partially offset by a drop in SMS.

Full-year revenue came in at OMR193.5 million down 1.7 per cent year-on-year, primarily driven by a reduction in SMS and on net voice revenue, partially offset by growth in both mobile and fixed data revenues.

EBITDA reached OMR26.2 million, down 2.2 per cent year-on-year, and reached OMR94.9 million for the year, down 8.2 per cent year-on-year. EBITDA for 2012 was affected by lower revenue as well as an increase in cost of sales due to increased international minutes.

Net profit for the fourth quarter was OMR10.3 million, down 13.4 per cent year-on-year while for the year it was down 22.1 per cent to OMR37 million. Net profit was affected by lower EBITDA as well as higher depreciation partially offset by lower interest cost.

The fixed service customer base grew by nearly 62.9 per cent to 44,261 in 2012, while the mobile post-paid customer base developed by 3.4 per cent to 179,182, and the mobile prepaid customer base increased by 11.9 per cent from 1.76 million at the end of 2012.

Samsung announced impressive results for the fourth quarter of 2012, while at the same time warning that it is not set for an easy ride in the coming year.

The company’s Mobile Communications (handset) business generated quarterly revenue of KRW27.23 trillion (US$25.3 billion), up 58 per cent year-on-year.

Looking forward Samsung said that “the furious growth spurt seen in the global smartphone market last year is expected to be pacified by intensifying price competition compounded by a slew of new products”.

In the current quarter, demand for smartphones in developed countries is expected to decelerate, although “their emerging counterparts will see their markets escalate with the introduction of more affordable smartphones” throughout the year.

The company is also anticipating continued declines in its feature phone business.

Moving back to Q4, Samsung said its growth was “mainly driven by solid sales of Samsung’s Galaxy SIII and Note II” smartphones, which “beat the popularity of their predecessors with record sales in record time”.

The company noted gains from its “full line-up of entry- to mid-level smartphones, expanded sales of tablet PCS and an increase in average selling price from the previous quarter”.

As usual, the company did not breakout details of its shipment volumes, although figures released by IDC today peg the company at 111.2 million units for the quarter, up 12.3 per cent from 99 million units in the same period of 2011.

The company was the largest global device maker, with market share of 23 per cent, compared with 17.9 per cent for Nokia.

On a group level, Samsung reported a profit of KRW7.04 trillion for Q412, up 76 per cent year-on-year, on revenue of KRW56.06 trillion.

For the full year, it saw a group operating profit of KRW29.05 trillion, on revenue of KRW201.10 trillion.