Qatar Telecom (Qtel) announced that group revenue increased by 16.6 per cent to QAR 15.4 billion (US$4.2 billion) in H111 to end-June, driven by superior operational progress across the telco.

Qtel’s consolidated customer base grew by 16.2 per cent over the period to stand at 77.5 million, while the group EBITDA increased 15 per cent to QAR 7.2 billion. EBITDA margin remained robust throughout the period at 47 per cent, same as for the corresponding period the year earlier.

Net profit attributable to Qtel shareholders increased by 16.7 per cent when normalised for a one-off favourable decision on the royalty regime in Qatar in 2010 of QAR 554 million related to the period of 2007-2009. H111 net profit attributable to Qtel shareholders stood at QAR 1.4 billion, down 22 per cent year-on-year.

The Iraqi parliament has voted to order the country’s three mobile network operators to pay up their entire licence fee within a month, instead of being staggered over a five-year term as originally intended.

However, there is some confusion as to whether this is a binding order on the regulator, or just a recommendation by parliament to the government to then decide if it agrees.

If implemented, the country’s three operators will need to find US$2.85 billion in licence fees and outstanding regulatory fines within 30 days.

“The parliament voted … that the companies should pay their financial requirements valued at US$2.85 billion to the federal budget within 30 days from the date of the vote,” the parliament said in a statement, reported Reuters.

However, the nominally independent regulator said the vote was not binding on it, while an affiliate of the Ministry of Communications said that it would be.

Zain, Qatar Telecom’s Asiacell, and Korek Telecom are the country’s three mobile players, with a fourth licence understood to be in the offing imminently.

Egyptian telco, Telecom Egypt and Alcatel-Lucent have announced that the TE-North Cable System, provisioned with 40 Gigabit per second (40G) wavelengths across the Mediterranean, is in service. TE-North is the first Mediterranean cable network to provide commercial service using this newest 40G technology.

The 3600km system connects Abu Talat, Egypt, to Marseille, France, with a branch to Pentaskhinos, Cyprus and also includes other branching units for further expansions in the Mediterranean basin. The introduction of this advanced technology essentially doubles the original design capacity of the system from 10 Terabits per second to over 20 Terabits per second, equivalent to the transfer of over 32,000 HD movies in 60 seconds.

TE-North’s expanded design capacity enables Telecom Egypt to meet the growing demand of its customers and the region on this important international telecommunications route. By boosting connectivity across the Mediterranean basin, the 40G technology enhances Telecom Egypt’s ability to serve global operators whose international services transit Egypt and rely on Egypt to hub the services in the Middle East, Asia and Africa region.

South Africa’s smallest mobile network operator, Cell C reported its subscriber base rose by 12 per cent over the past year to end-June to reach 8.2 million customers, boosted by prepaid subscriber growth.

The rise in the customer base was reflected in Cell C’s market share, which increased to 15.4 per cent, while customer churn decreased by 14 per cent year-on-year.

Between August 2010 and June 2011, Cell C grew its data subscriber base to 120 000 customers.

Full-year revenue also increased by five per cent year-on-year to ZAR10.2 billion (US$1.42 billion), while EBITDA remained unchanged at ZAR1.4 billion, due largely to costs relating to the increased infrastructure and rebranding activities. As an unlisted company, it does not issue a net loss figure.

“As the board, we are pleased with the performance and progress that Cell C has made over the last year,” said non-executive chairman and acting CEO of Cell C, Simon Duffy.

In the past 12 months to end-June, Cell C acquired a US$360 million facility from China Development Bank to finance 100 per cent of ZTE’s network rollout.

The cellco also agreed to American Tower Corporation acquiring 1,365 existing sites (of which 1,288 have already been transferred), for which Cell C will receive US$200 million with an option to transfer up to 1,800 more sites. 

Cell C is 100 per cent owned by 3C Telecommunications, which is 60 per cent owned by Oger Telecom South Africa, a division of Saudi Oger; which is in part owned by Saudi Telecom.

China’s ZTE has announced that it shipped 60 million terminal products including 35 million handsets in the first half of 2011. This represents an increase of approximately 30 per cent year-on-year in handsets shipped and resulted in the firm experiencing a 400 per cent increase in smartphone sales and 300 per cent increase in USA market growth.

ZTE added that it’s Blade has also became one of the world’s top-selling smartphones. Through partnerships with approximately 80 operators globally, ZTE’s Blade is now available in nearly 50 countries and regions. The Blade’s daily sales in China are the nation’s highest for Android smartphones, averaging 16,000 units per day. ZTE has now sold 2.5 million Blade handsets globally and expects to break the five million mark this year.

The manufacturer also aims to ship 12 million smart terminals in the second half of the year, and has grown in market share in four major markets: China, North America, Europe and Latin America.

In Europe, ZTE has partnered with over 65 operators on smartphones, with its handset sales increasing over 30 per cent in the region in the same time period. In Latin America, ZTE’s share of the Brazilian market rose 46 per cent and the company secured investment for a high-tech industrial park, which is slated to become the country’s biggest telecommunications research, production and training centre.