Mobile chipmaker ST-Ericsson has released a statement admitting it is “currently working with an external advisor in order to ensure the best possible future” for the firm. The move was a response to a report earlier in Les Echos, which specifically named JP Morgan as the partner.

ST-Ericsson’s statement continued: “Both STMicroelectronics and Ericsson support ST-Ericsson in its transformation work and remain confident that the company has a strategic position in the industry to enable the device ecosystem.”

The statement referenced the company’s new "strategic plan” that was announced in April, insisting that the vendor “is in the middle of executing on company transformation aiming at lowering its break-even point.”

The Les Echos report claimed one scenario would see the venture sold in blocks related to specific technologies such as connectivity, power management and software architecture. Other pieces of the business could be shifted back into the parent companies, the paper said. The French report expects a decision to be made before the end of this year.

ST-Ericsson is a 50/50 joint venture between Ericsson and STMicroelectronics. Its poor financial health has made it a long-running target for media speculation surrounding its future. In March it was suggested that companies such as AMD, Nvidia, Intel and Texas Instruments see the value in ST-Ericsson, as a tool to rival Qualcomm in the mobile space.

In July ST-Ericsson announced a second quarter loss of US$318 million, compared with a Q2 2011 loss of US$221 million, on revenue of US$344 million, down from US$385 million.

Chinese telecom vendors Huawei and ZTE should not be allowed to operate in the US due to potential links with the Chinese state, according to a draft report from the House of Representatives’ Intelligence Committee seen by Reuters.

The committee said the companies cannot be trusted to avoid influence from the Chinese state and pose a potential risk to the US following an 11-month investigation. Both companies were criticised in the unclassified report for failing to provide sufficient information about formal relationships and regulatory interaction with the Chinese state that would allay the concerns.

The committee warned potential customers to seek other vendors for their projects and urged the US intelligence service to inform the private sector about the potential espionage threat. The body is also seeking to block any mergers of acquisitions involving the firms in the US.

Allegations have been made by industry experts and Huawei employees, past and present, that the company could be guilty of bribery, corruption, discrimination and copyright infringement. The committee will refer these allegations to the Justice Department, Homeland Security, and other US government bodies.

Both companies denied the accusations in September that their equipment had been installed with code to allow sensitive information to be sent back to China, according to a BBC report. Senior executives from both companies made the statements in front of a House Intelligence Committee.

Committee chairman Mike Rogers said that there had been reports of ‘backdoors’ and unexplained beaconing – a process in which networks self-repair – from equipment sold by the two companies.
The report comes as Huawei reportedly considers an IPO in an effort to overcome suspicions that have hindered its efforts to gain a foothold in the US market so far.

Zain Group has revealed that it is currently working on establishing a regional data network, which will be directed by a new wholly-owned subsidiary company, Zain Group Wholesale.

Speaking at a conference in Dubai last week, Zain Group Deputy CEO and COO, Hisham Akbar outlined the thinking behind the formation of Zain Group’s latest operation, which is set to offer wholesale voice and data services, leveraging Zain’s facilities based license in addition to its Internet Service Provider (ISP) credentials and access to spectrum.

Akbar spoke of how Zain has decided to exploit its wireless technology leadership, coverage and licensed countries of operation to their maximum potential and that Zain Group Wholesale will enjoy a quick start given the presence of already significant organic traffic from existing Zain customers.

Speaking at the conference, Akbar commented: “Zain Group Wholesale allows us to leverage our existing competencies and assets while at the same time giving our customer base access to additional voice and data services.”

Akbar continued: “From being a user of third-party fibre, Zain is moving to acquire and participate in fibre facilities construction, which will further bolster the services and products that can be offered by Zain Group Wholesale. Zain Group has also started concluding arrangements by which it will be able to deliver over-the-top (OTT)-type services to consumers on their mobile devices.”

As broadband traffic continues to grow at exponential rates across the region Zain Group believes its wholesale strategy will help answer and cater to this market trend, complementing and enhancing the operator’s existing strategy.

Qtel Group has closed on its offer to increase its stake in Wataniya Telecom Kuwait, and has secured ownership of 92.1 per cent of the mobile operator.

Following the expiry of Qtel’s offer to acquire the 47.5 per cent of shares it does not own in Wataniya Telecom on October 4, Qtel has received acceptances from shareholders for 39.61 per cent of the total shares in issue. Qtel originally made the offer to all other shareholders of Wataniya Telecom on September 4.

"We respect the decision of those Wataniya Telecom shareholders who decided not to accept the offer and look forward to their continuing support as we enter into a new period of investment across all Wataniya Telecom Kuwait’s main markets,” commented Abdullah Bin Mohammed Bin Saud Al-Thani, chairman of Qtel Group. “We are also grateful for the Algerian Authorities understanding of our position, taking into consideration that no change takes place in the Wataniya Telecom Algeria management control in line with Algerian law, and granting us the opportunity to fulfil this deal which will stimulate our investments, particularly in the promising and thriving Algerian market," he added.

In 2007, Qtel paid US$3.8 billion for an initial 51 per cent stake in Wataniya Telecom. In 2011, Wataniya Telecom posted revenue of US$2.62 billion and net profit of US$1.3 billion.

Wataniya Telecom has complete ownership of Wataniya Kuwait, in addition to stakes in Wataniya-Maldives (100%), Wataniya-Palestine (48.5%), Nedjma in Algeria (71%), PTC-Bravo in Saudi Arabia (100%), and Tunisiana in Tunisia (75%).

Airtel Africa has announced the appointments of Louis Lubala and Antoine Pamboro as the new managing directors of its operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Gabon respectively.

The new development sees the two Airtel top executives, take leadership roles in two African nations with diverse potential in the telecommunications sector. Gabon has one of the highest teledensity statistics at over a 100 per cent whilst DRC, the second largest country in Africa by area, has an approximated 25 per cent penetration.

Pambaro holds a Master’s degree in Telecommunications Civil Engineering from the Superior National School of Telecommunications, France and a Bachelor’s degree in Maths & Physics from the University of Reims, France. A career engineer, he headed operations in Airtel DRC and brings over 28 years of deep telecommunications experience in both the public and private sectors. He joined the company in 2000 from MTN having had a successful career spanning several senior leadership roles.

Before his appointment as the MD for DRC, Lubala headed Airtel operations in Gabon. He brings over 25 years’ experience from both the telecommunication and the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) sectors having worked with multinational companies such as Electric Liberty – South Africa, Multi-Choice Africa, World Space – Southern Africa, Quantum International, Unilever Cote d’Ivoire, Lever Brothers South Africa and Unilever DRC.