Nigerian CDMA network operator, Visafone Communications has agreed to sell and lease-back 459 towers to infrastructure operator IHS Nigeria for an undisclosed amount. The agreement follows shortly after IHS’ US$200 million equity and debt financing by IFC, Investec Asset Management, FMO and Standard Bank.

The investment deal, which closed in July, will allow IHS to further grow its portfolio of towers in the coming months. Upon signing this agreement with Visafone, its second sale and lease back transaction, IHS CEO Issam Darwish, confirmed the company’s vision for further growth.

“We aim to become one of the leading pan-African telecom infrastructure solutions providers, and following this successful agreement we plan to further increase our Nigerian tower base to over 1,000 sites by the end of the year,” he said.

IHS is also the largest managed services provider in sub-Saharan Africa, with more than 3,500 sites under management.

Listed on the Nigerian bourse since 2008, IHS is seeking to expand into other markets in Africa and the Middle East.

Alcatel-Lucent reported that second quarter revenue increased 2.4 per cent year-over-year and 4.4 per cent sequentially to €3.903 billion (US$5.56 billion). At constant currency exchange rates and perimeter, revenue increased 10.4 per cent year-over-year and increased 7.6 per cent sequentially.

Following a year-over-year growth of 22 per cent in the first quarter 2011, Networks continued to see strong double-digit year-over-year increase in revenue in the second quarter to end-June, with all divisions growing.

IP revenue growth accelerated and recorded 35 per cent year-over-year progression while optics division maintained a healthy momentum with an increase close to six per cent. In access, 3G & 4G technologies drove the strong growth of the wireless division and in wireline, IP DSLAM and PON technologies more than offset the decline of legacy products.

Adjusted operating income for the quarter came in at of €108 million, up from €28 million a year earlier. Reported net profit for the period came in at €43 million, from a loss of €45 million a year earlier. Gross margin amounted to 35.8%, down lightly from the 36.2% in Q1.

“We are on track for the year. In the second quarter, our next-generation product sales increased sharply, delivering market share gains in IP and optics, driven by the need for capacity and all-IP network transformation,” commented Ben Verwaayen, CEO of Alcatel-Lucent.

“We are reaffirming our full-year outlook to grow faster than our addressable market with an adjusted operating margin above five per cent of our 2011 sales.”

UAE telco Du has announced a Gigabit-capable Passive Optical Network (GPON) deal with Ericsson, consisting of Ericsson’s EDA 1500 GPON solution, passive optical components and related services. The network is future-proof for open access, which means that in the coming years, Du can implement new business models in which deployment and operations costs are split among different entities. Through the newly implemented system, Du is able to better meet existing subscriber demand for advanced broadband services, while transforming its network into a ready-to-use platform for a new era of communications.

“The tie-up with Ericsson for GPON complements our state-of-the-art fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) network, which we were the first to deploy in the UAE. This new solution will allow us to offer innovations, such as the fastest broadband (real broadband) and Du TV to our customers, commented Hatem Bamatraf, senior VP for network development at Du.

For the first half of 2011 to end-June, the Zain Group reported consolidated revenues of KWD659.4 million (US$2.38 billion), up two per cent year-on-year. The period witnessed net income increasing to KWD140.2 million, up 17% from H110. The telco’s consolidated EBITDA reached KWD293.1 million for the period, up six per cent year-on-year, reflecting an EBITDA margin of 44 per cent (up one percentage point).

Year-on-year customer growth across all operations in which Zain operates was 16 per cent, with the company adding 5.46 million customers in the 12 months to end-June 2011. Zain served 39.6 million managed active customers as of June 30, 2011. Zain Saudi Arabia witnessed 32 per cent year-on-year growth to serve 9.1 million customers and Sudan 24 per cent growth to end the period serving 11.4 million. Zain Kuwait also increased its customer base by seven per cent reaching a milestone two million customers, along with increases in Jordan of 5.5 per cent and for Iraq 5.2 per cent to serve 2.7 million and 12.3 million customers respectively.

Q211 operational highlights:

· Zain received remaining US$700 million from sale of Africa assets to Airtel

· Zain Saudi Arabia successfully refinanced US$600 million Murabaha loan with syndicate of regional banks to fund future growth of mobile operation

· Notable growth in Zain Sudan, which now serves 11.4 million customers, and attained a 14 per cent revenue increase in local SDG currency

· Zain Iraq served 12.3 million customers, with 10 per cent increase in revenues

· Zain Group’s e-mal mobile financial services platform launched in Jordan

· Zain Group signs deal with Apple and launches iPhone 4 in Kuwait, Jordan and Bahrain

Qualcomm today launched its Qualcomm Powered smartphone initiative in Saudi Arabia, aimed at bringing OEMs (original equipment manufacturers), retailers, and network operators closer together to drive mobile data usage.

Speaking exclusively to Comm., Jay Srage, Qualcomm’s president for the MEA region said that the technology provider had partnered with Saudi telco Mobily; Saudi handset retailers Axiom and Jarir Bookstores; and six device manufacturers – Sony Ericsson, HTC, Alcatel, Samsung, Acer, and Huawei – in the offer of a joint strategic and marketing campaign aimed at driving up smartphone and data usage in the kingdom.

Jay Srage says Qualcomm Powered is an early-stage model that has the potential to uplift the entire smartphone-accessed mobile data ecosystem

“Qualcomm has always been interested in working with ecosystem players across the entire telecom value chain, and with respect to the Qualcomm Powered initiative, I like to refer to us as being the glue that binds the various parties together,” Srage said. “What we have done in Saudi Arabia, and aim to do in other parts of the region, is to enable data packages and connections to be accessed in a way that unleashes mobility and mobile data usage,” he added.

The six OEMs have a combined portfolio of around 25 smartphones offered in Saudi Arabia, and as part of the Qualcomm Powered initiative in the kingdom Mobily has agreed to offer customers who purchase any of the smartphones included in the campaign data usage at no charge for a period of time following the purchase.

Qualcomm Powered looks to benefit OEMs through offering a potential differentiation tool, while complimenting their existing in-country supply and distribution channels. The initiative seeks to benefit retailers given it works as a virtual subsidy of the smartphones sold, allowing retailers to sell more of them. It is also set to benefit service providers by raising the awareness of smartphones and their capabilities, with the view to more subscribers becoming paying customers to data services in the longer-run.

“We are following up the launch in Saudi Arabia with similar launches in Egypt and the UAE in due course,” Srage revealed. “These are all high-growth markets in which smartphone usage is increasing rapidly. Our aim is to launch these initiatives and then after a few months assess their impact. If it is successful our aim is to roll it out across the MEA and even beyond the region,” he added.

In Egypt, more than one network operator has already signed up to Qualcomm Powered, and Srage said he also expects that the number and size of OEM partners is likely to grow should this new model of joint, strategic marketing focus be vindicated.