The Tanzanian government has agreed to buy back a 35 per cent stake in Tanzania Telecommunications Corp (TTCL) from Bharti Airtel for TZS14.6 billion (US$7 million), with a government official confirming the state is now set to “regain sole ownership of the company”.

The government is reportedly keen to recapitalise the cash strapped operator, which is minority owned by Bharti Airtel Tanzania.

Airtel’s Tanzanian subsidiary was first established when the Indian operator acquired Zain’s African assets in 2010 for approximately US$10.7 billion. The deal with Zain came with a 35 per cent stake in TTCL, which the government originally sold in 2001.

Both parties have been in talks over a deal for the past five years, but negotiations have stalled because of price.

Bharti Airtel Tanzania is the second largest mobile operator in the country – also 40 per cent owned by the government – and trails only behind Vodacom Tanzania in terms of market share.

Tanzania has a highly competitive telecom market with seven active operators.

According to GSMA Intelligence, by the end of the year TTCL will have approximately 232,000 connections, from a total of 36 million forecast for the entire country.

BlackBerry was again the subject of takeover speculation, shortly after the company announced more job cuts in its latest reshuffle.

According to reports, Microsoft is among the potential suitors for BlackBerry, as it looks to bolster its position in the mobile market. Following its acquisition of the bulk of Nokia’s Devices & Services business, it seems unlikely that Microsoft is after the Canadian company’s smartphone business; rather, its enterprise mobility management and security tools are likely to be the prize.

Chinese players Huawei, Lenovo and Xiaomi are also reported to have looked at BlackBerry.

BlackBerry does still have a significant brand presence, particularly in the enterprise market across the US and Europe. It also has an intellectual property portfolio that may prove appealing, particularly to Xiaomi, which some observers believe is hamstrung in this area.

Reports earlier this year linked BlackBerry and Samsung, although both companies denied this was the case. The pair are working together, however, in the enterprise mobility space.

In the Canadian player’s latest reshuffle, it said its intention is to “reallocate resources in ways that will best enable us to capitalise on growth opportunities while driving toward sustainable profitability across all facets of our business”.

The number of positions to be cut as a result of the company’s realignment has not been confirmed.

BlackBerry has seen its device volumes plummet in recent years, making it more and more difficult to profitably sustain this unit. While it has introduced new devices designed to target die-hard BlackBerry loyalists – such as BlackBerry Classic and BlackBerry Passport – there is little sign that these are driving a turnaround in its fortunes.

Following a meeting between Etisalat and Ericsson in Sweden, the two companies announced a strategic partnership to extend collaboration in new areas and strengthen their relationship as trusted ICT partners of government, industry, and enterprise business.

A delegation of Etisalat executive management including the Group CEO Ahmed Julfar travelled to Ericsson headquarters in Stockholm to meet with Ericsson president and CEO Hans Vestberg, and Ericsson executive management. The purpose of the visit was to discuss industry trends, Ericsson’s vision of a networked society, and to agree on areas where the two companies could further strengthen their partnership. 

As a result, Etisalat and Ericsson will jointly evaluate and identify enterprise opportunities for collaboration.

Etisalat Nigeria has become the latest telco to inform its subscribers of “possible disruptions” to its operations and services following the West African nation’s fuel shortage crisis.

MTN and Airtel, Nigeria’s largest cellcos, reported at the weekend that their services would be affected by the nationwide fuel shortages.

Nigeria’s fuel crisis has left millions of people in the country without lights and power for the past few weeks.

Taking to its Facebook page Etisalat Nigeria’s management informed subscribers of the possible disruptions to its network.

“The scarcity of petroleum products has impacted every sector of the economy and the provision of telecommunications services is no exception. We are however working with partners and doing all that is possible to continue to deliver quality services in spite of the challenge. Such a prolonged situation threatens our ability to re-fuel all our sites and thus negatively impacting service.

Etisalat Nigeria is the fourth largest mobile operator in the country with more than 18 million subscribers.

NetOne is reported to have begun receiving part of US$280 million worth of equipment from China to expand its mobile broadband project.

Last year, Zimbabwe finance minister Patrick Chinamasa signed a deal with Exim Bank of China in which the bank would pay for equipment from Huawei Technologies on behalf of NetOne.

NetOne managing director Reward Kangai said last week that the first batch of equipment had arrived from China, and would be put to use to deliver 2G, 3G, and 4G services.