Sony Corporation named Hiroyasu Sugiyama as the new MD of Sony Gulf FZE. Sugiyama takes over from the outgoing Osamu Miura, one of the founding members of Sony Gulf FZE.

Sugiyama brings with him over 25-years of market intelligence and experience in different capacities in various Sony companies since he joined Sony in 1986.

Sugiyama is 48 years old and joined Sony in 1986 overseeing Sony’s the production of black and white Sony televisions in India.

Shareholders in Orascom Telecom Media and Technology (OTMT) have approved plans to sell most of the firm’s stake in Egyptian mobile operator ECMS to France Telecom in an EGP6 billion (US$1 billion) deal, reports Zawya Dow Jones.

"The shareholders also approved the delegation of authority to each of the executive chairman and managing director of the company [OTMT] to finalise negotiations and execute binding agreements in connection therewith," said OTMT in a statement late last week.

Last month OTMT and France Telecom signed a non-binding deal proposing that the French firm would acquire “most” of OTMT’s holding in ECMS’ majority holding company at EGP202.50 a share – before launching a tender offer at the same price for the stock which is currently in free float.

In a statement at the time, France Telecom said that OTMT would retain “similar voting rights and board representation” as currently in place, and would remain its “strategic local partner” in the country, providing strategic and management oversight over ECMS.

Depending on shareholder uptake of the offer, France Telecom could end up owning up to 95 per cent of the Egyptian operator – with OTMT retaining a five per cent economic interest and 30 per cent voting rights.
ECMS – which trades under the name MobiNil – is currently the second largest operator in Egypt, with a 39 per cent market share, behind Vodafone Egypt on 44 per cent.
OTMT is the firm that was spun off from Orascom Telecom Holding (OTH), following the latter’s merger with VimpelCom.

Saudi cellco Etihad Etisalat (Mobily) and Huawei have announced the implementation of what they claim to be the Middle East’s first commercial next generation Service Delivery Platform (SDP) involving landmark advances to nearly every segment of the operator’s nationwide mobile network.

Mobily announced in early 2011 that it would undergo a strategic business transformation that would provide more innovative services to its customers while streamlining overall operations and management processes. The technology behind the resulting SDP has been engineered specifically for the operator by Huawei.

With the next generation SDP, Mobily will be able to more rapidly implement new multimedia services collaborating with content publishers, service providers and all other players in the value chain. The platform also allows Mobily to do things like setting up its own app store, integrating with over-the-top content providers, and developing cloud-oriented services.

Qatar Telecom (Qtel) today announced that Group revenue increased in 2011 by 16.0 per cent, ending FY 2011 at QAR31.8 billion (US$8.74 billion).

The Group’s consolidated customer base as of December 31, 2011 stood at 83.4 million, up 12.4 per cent year-on-year. Group EBITDA in 2011 also advanced, increasing by 18.7 per cent to QAR14.8 billion, with Qtel maintaining a strong EBITDA margin of 47.0 per cent in 2011, up from 46.0 per cent in 2010.

Net profit attributable to Qtel’s shareholders after normalisation for a one-off favourable decision on the royalty regime in Qatar in 2010 of QAR554 million, increased year-on-year by 11.6 per cent to QAR2.6 billion.

The Qtel board recommended the distribution of a cash dividend of 30 per cent of the nominal share value (QAR3 per share) and bonus shares representing 30 per cent of the issued share capital.

The board of directors also recommended to the general assembly an increase of authorised share capital of QAR5 billion. Taking into account the long-term strategy of the company, the board approved the issue of 40 per cent rights (two shares for every five shares held, after the distribution of bonus shares) at a price of QAR75 per share, which is subject to approval of the increase of authorised capital by the general assembly and subject to receiving the relevant regulatory approvals.

To capitalise upon the full potential of its diverse markets, the Qtel Group has adapted its strategy to focus on the customer experience, broadband development and embracing parallel business opportunities, positioning the company to continue its progress as a leading international communications company.

Nigerian state telco, NITEL and its mobile network subsidiary MTEL, are set to become victims of a ‘guided liquidation,’ the Nigerian government has confirmed.

The National Council on Privatisation (NCP) said that it approved the liquidation in view of the huge liabilities of both companies.

At its last meeting in December 2011, the NCP had considered the presentations made by the management of NITEL and MTEL on the way forward for both companies. The NCP had directed the management of both telecom operators to submit detailed financial reports and other relevant information on the proposals for the resuscitation of both companies to the technical committee of the NCP.

The technical committee recommended that ‘guided liquidation’ should be adopted as there was no viable financial alternative presented by the management of NITEL/MTEL.

Local company, Transcorp bought a 75 per cent stake in NITEL in 2006 for US$750 million during an earlier privatisation sale, but the government reclaimed the stake in 2009 following several years of neglect.

Since that time there have been three aborted attempts to sell the company, with the last failing in June 2011 when the Omen International Consortium – which was backed by China Unicom – failed to pay a required US$105 million deposit on the sale.

The formal process for the liquidation of the company is still to be confirmed.