Following preliminary discussions with Batelco Group, and a meeting held between Kingdom Holding Company (KHC), chaired by Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud, and Batelco, the two companies announce they have agreed key terms for Batelco to be the telecom operator in a revised bid to acquire 25 per cent stake of Zain Saudi Arabia.

From right to left: Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal AlSaud, Shaikh Hamad Bin Abdulla Al Khalifa, Peter Kaliaropoulos, and Ahmed Halawani

“We are pleased to announce that we reached agreement with Batelco Group to participate in the Kingdom Holding led consortium to acquire 25 per cent of Zain Saudi Arabia,” said Ahmed Halawani, executive director of KHC. "Today we submitted a revised non-binding offer to Zain Group for its 25 per cent stake of Zain Saudi Arabia, valid till 9am on March 14, 2011. Should our offer meet with acceptance from Zain Group board directors, Kingdom Holding looks forward to leading the due diligence phase and negotiating the terms and conditions of the final binding agreement between all parties”.

“We are delighted to have the opportunity to jointly bid and support KHC in its efforts to acquire 25 per cent of Zain Saudi Arabia, as their technical partner,” commented Peter Kaliaropoulos, Batelco Group CEO. We value KHC’s leadership and we look forward to supporting them through an effective technical and business partnership.”

At the end of February Zain Group rejected all three bids for its 25 per cent stake in its Saudi Arabian subsidiary. The bids were submitted separately by Batelco, Kingdom Holding and a consortium led by Al Riyadh Group. The stake is currently valued at around US$750 million.

The Iraqi government hopes to raise as much as US$2 billion from auctioning of the country’s fourth mobile operator licence by the end of the year. The government will allocate at least a quarter of the licence fee towards improving the country’s telecom infrastructure, the communications minister told the Reuters.

The minister, Mohammed Allawi also said that he wanted to improve landline services, and use that to boost Internet penetration to 25 per cent within five years.

"Forty per cent of the shares of the new licensee (will go) to the operator, 35 per cent of the shares to the public, and 25 per cent of the shares to the ministry." he commented, confirming reports that emerged last year concerning the licence conditions.

The government has been increasingly frustrated by what it says is poor service from the existing three networks. Just last week Iraq’s telecom regulator, the Communications and Media Commission (CMC) ordered all of the country’s operators to stop interconnections with Zain Iraq’s "unlicensed lines".

Earlier this year the CMC accused Zain Iraq of using five million SIM cards without regulatory approval. The regulator handed Zain Iraq a US$262 million fine, to be paid by April 11.

In a letter sent to Iraq’s three mobile telecom operators on February 17, the CMC stated that no company had the right to activate or market any new line without the commission’s prior consent. It also requested that all telecom companies cease interconnections with unlicensed lines or face legal action.

The minister also said while network jamming by security forces was partly to blame for patchy mobile coverage, the operators’ infrastructure had been unable to cope with growing demand.

Both France Telecom and Etisalat are said to be in talks to take a stake in the smallest Iraqi operator, Korek Telecom, although the availability of an independent licence may prove more appetising to the bidders.

Etisalat Nigeria has completed a US$650 million agreement deal with eight Nigerian banks to expand its mobile phone network, local Punch newspaper reported, CEO Steven Evans.

The loan is being arranged by First Bank of Nigeria, Zenith Bank, Access Bank, Fidelity Bank and United Bank for Africa, the Lagos-based newspaper said. Others financial institutions are Bank PHB, Guaranty Trust Bank and Oceanic Bank International.

Evans said that the cellco would invest US$400 million in 2011; noting that US$50 million out of the loans would be specifically spent on 3G equipment.

Etisalat Nigeria acquired Alheri Mobile Services, a unit of the Dangote Group and a recipient of a 3G licence in December for an undisclosed amount.

The 3G network, according to Evans, will be rolled out in Lagos, Port Harcourt and Abuja imminently, while other parts of the country will be covered throughout this year.

Zimbabwean state-owned telco NetOne has confirmed that it is in talks with several overseas investors about taking a significant minority stake in the company. The company needs at least US$100 million in additional investment to maintain its network and catch up with its two larger commercial rivals.

Network expansion has typically been funded by internal funds, although the company was able to secure its first foreign loan in over a decade last year – for US$45 million from the Export-Import Bank of China for network infrastructure purchases.

"We are glad that the government has taken the decision to allow NetOne to partner a bigger player," Reward Kangai, NetOne’s managing director said at an investment conference in Harare. "The investment required by the network points to a global player with operations in many countries."

He confirmed that NetOne is in talks with South Africa’s MTN, and several other unnamed investors. An investor would be limited to a maximum 49 per cent stake due to existing laws restricting foreign control of telecom networks.

"There’s definitely need for the government to reduce its shareholding, governments are not in the business of running companies," he added.

The Zimbabwean government has been under pressure to sell its bloated state telco, but as resisted the move as NetOne is viewed as part of the government’s strategic assets, which it often uses to monitor civilians agitating for change within Zimbabawe’s political landscape.

Econet Wireless and Telecel Zimbabwe are the country’s other two licensed operators.

NSN today issued a statement saying its acquisition of Motorola’s wireless networks infrastructure assets, originally announced on July 19, 2010, is still pending anti-trust approval from the Chinese regulatory authorities. “Closing activities will not be completed in the first quarter of 2011 as previously targeted,” NSN commented in a statement.

It also confirmed the proposed acquisition has entered phase three of the review process with the Anti-Monopoly Bureau of the Ministry of Commerce in China (MOFCOM).

“Nokia Siemens Networks remains committed to the acquisition but will provide no further guidance on when it is likely to be completed,” it added