The UAE’s second telecom provider Du today announced its financial results for the first quarter of 2010, showing a robust start to the year achieving the company’s highest revenue for a quarter ever and sustained mobile subscriber additions.

Highlights included total revenue amounting to AED 1.58 billion (US$430.5 million), a 36 per cent increase compared to Q109 and a three per cent increase quarter-on-quarter. Gross margin grew by 34 per cent year-on-year to AED 1.042 billion and five per cent quarter-on-quarter, while net profit before royalty came in at AED 194 million, up from AED 47 million a year earlier.

262,000 active mobile subscribers were added during the quarter taking the total number at the end of the period to 3.74 million. 26,900 additions during the quarter were post-paid.

A growth rate of 47 per cent was recorded in Du’s fixed line subscriber base from 310,900 lines in Q109 to 456,700 lines in Q110, and 50,900 lines added during the quarter.

Revenues for Du’s fixed business, including fixed telephony, TV and broadband, amounted to AED 265 million, a 15 per cent year-on-year improvement and a 4 per cent quarter-on-quarter increase.

Ecoweb has launched Zimbabwe’s first 4G WiMAX network, surpassing more developed nations in introducing the technology, according to local news source The Chronicle. Internet provider Ecoweb, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Econet Wireless, has already deployed more than 100 WiMAX base stations across the country.

"WiMAX puts Zimbabwe at par with the first-world countries in terms of telecommunications infrastructure. The new state-of-the-art access is capable of delivering quadruple-play services, that is, voice, video, and data with full mobility on one subscription on all Internet Protocol (IP) network,” stated Ecoweb’s general manager Isaac Chaza.

It is expected the new technology will complement Econet Wireless’ current 3G and GPRS offering, and satisfy growing demand for more bandwidth-hungry data services.

Mozambique’s communications regulator confirmed on May 5 that interest in the country’s third mobile licence is well above expectations, with 19 local and foreign companies having purchased tender documents. France Telecom, Zain and Portugal Telecom are among those who have expressed interest, and which have until June 21 to submit bids.

Following the deadline, the National Communications Institute of Mozambique will have 60 days to evaluate the tenders with the winner expected to be licenced by year end. A fee of US$25 million is applicable once the successful bidder has received the licence.

Bidders were required to have a bank guarantee of US$2 million before they could acquire tender documents, which will be refunded to unsuccessful bidders. Participating parties must also prove they have at least US$30 million worth of net assets and annual revenues exceeding US$50 million.

M-Cel currently leads the market in Mozambique with 3.5 million subscribers. Vodacom follows with an additional 2.5 million customers to make a total of six million mobile connections. The country has a population of approximately 21.7 million. M-Cel recorded revenues of more than US$270 million in 2008, while Vodacom earned around US$100 million.

Nordic operator Telenor added a further five million mobile subscribers during the first quarter of 2010, to reach a consolidated subscriber base of 179 million. Revenues were down slightly year-on-year to NOK 23.952 billion (US$3.86 billion) from NOK 24.614 billion a year earlier. Meanwhile net profit was NOK 1.038 billion, a decline of 36 per cent from NOK 1.622 billion in the first quarter of 2009.

Group chief executive Jon Fredrik Baksaas said current trends for the Oslo-based company in the Asian and Nordic regions were positive in the first quarter, and he expected a rebound in organic revenue growth. He attributed the operating cash flow of NOK 5 billion to a combination of strong financial results and good capital discipline.

Mobile operations in the Nordic region were driven by an increased demand for smartphones, pushing up mobile data usage and revenues. The company has planned upgrades of mobile networks in all its Nordic markets to accommodate future growth in this area.

In regards to Telenor’s recently launched Indian operation ‘Uninor’, Baksaas stated that rollout activities have continued at a fast pace.

“Network quality is already high in the circles where we have launched, and 180,000 points of sale and around 2,500 employees are in place to support Uninor’s development in the market. In this initial phase, we are experiencing some challenges. To secure healthy pick-up of quality subscribers, we are continuously working on developing the distribution system,” Baksaas added.

The global telecoms group spans 14 markets: Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Hungary, Montenegro, Serbia, Ukraine, Russia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Thailand, Malaysia and India.

With the provisional price for a pan-India 3G licence reaching INR 113 billion (US$2.52 billion) on day 23 of India’s 3G auction, questions are being asked over how the government previously awarded 2G licences at such low prices in 2001 on a ‘first come, first served’ basis, despite the telecoms regulator having recommended an auction process.

Last week opposition members called for the resignation of telecommunications minister A. Raja, suggesting corruption and partiality was involved in the licensing of 2G. According to reports, the Central Bureau of Investigation has been investigating for some months already several Department of Telecommunications (DoT) officials and private companies, over the way the licences were granted, with several winning bidders on-selling their licences to foreign firms with large profits.

The 3G auction began on April 9 and is expected to be tied up within a few days. The current provisional price for a nationwide licence of INR 113 billion is 3.2 times the reserve price of INR 35 billion.

The service circle of Mumbai continues to top the bidding with a current price of INR 19.867 billion, followed by Delhi with INR 19.2 billion. At the current prices across all circles, the government is guaranteed at least INR 456.9 billion in proceeds from the auction.