Etisalat’s chairman Mohammed Omran has issued a blunt statement setting clear the operator’s position with respect to its investment in Pakistan telco Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) and the UAE’s telco’s non-payment of almost half of the US$2.6 billion it pledged for a 26 per cent stake of the Pakistan operator in 2006.

Recently media reports have quoted Pakistan’s minister of privatisation, senator Waqar Ahmed Khan, calling for an enquiry into Etisalat’s acquisition of the stake in PTCL.

“The deal (between Etisalat and PTCL) was full of flaws and legal advisers had asked the then government to scrap it, otherwise it would be considered contrary to rules,” Khan is quoted as saying. Omran countered in his statement by saying Etisalat’s investment in PTCL, “came in the wake of a welcome invitation and encouragement by the government of Pakistan to participate in the privatisation process”.

At the beginning of this year Etisalat was reported to be withholding US$1 billion in payments to the Pakistan government over a dispute relating to its purchase of its stake in PTCL. The dispute is over the ownership of properties in Pakistan that were meant to form part of the original deal.

According to the terms of the agreement, Etisalat was due to pay US$1.4 billion within one month of signing the purchase deal and the remaining US$1.2 billion was to be paid in equal instalments over four and a half years, with one instalment every six months.

Responding to the issue of the outstanding purchase price, Omran said that under the terms of the deal, Etisalat is entitled to withhold payments until the property titles are transferred to PTCL.

“Our aim is to ensure that PTCL receives clean title to and possession of all properties. We are confident that when the privatisation commission fulfils this obligation, Etisalat will immediately release the instalments,” he said.

The UAE’s Du has entered into a EUR 200 million (US$270 million) long term credit facility with Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN), in order to finance future network upgrades and expansion.

The agreement is backed by Finnvera, the Finnish Export Credit Agency, and will be provided through Nordea Bank for the purchase of NSN equipment. The vendor is the major supplier to the integrated operator for 2G and core works.

"There is currently a high demand across the UAE for better coverage and capacity and we are very pleased to be able to meet this demand through the supplier agreement with NSN. The new equipment will enable the continued roll out of our 2G network, greatly benefitting Du’s customer base, while expanding our coverage and capacity," commented CEO Osman Sultan.

Huawei said its 2009 full-year revenues surged 19 per cent from 2008 reaching RMB 149.1 billion (US$21.8 billion), propelling the Chinese vendor to the number two spot behind Ericsson. Net profit more than doubled from RMB 7.8 billion to RMB 18.3 billion, with a net profit margin of 12.2 per cent. However, not including exchange gains or losses tallying RMB 6.9 billion, net profit increased 26.5 per cent.

The company attributed its net profit to rising sales, gains from exchange rates, and strict cost-control margins which had a positive impact on operating margins. According to US-based research firm Gartner, Huawei’s global market share increased from 11.5 per cent in 2008 to 14.2 per cent in 2009.

Contracted sales in North America jumped 53 per cent during the period, while Asian markets excluding China rose 43 per cent. Additionally, the firm is now a partner-of choice for 45 of the world’s top 50 operators, up from 36 operators a year earlier.

Yi Xiang, Huawei’s president for the Middle East said the region experienced 20 per cent growth, boosted by the deployment of the SingleRAN solution, as part of mobile broadband growth and evolution to LTE.

"We see our business momentum continuing in 2010 and expect year-on-year revenue growth of 20 per cent driven by increased deployments of mobile and fixed broadband networks, further take-up of customised smart devices, and higher demand for professional managed services,” Yi Xiang added.

Bharti Airtel has signed definitive contracts with Zain Group for the purchase of the African operations excluding Sudan and Morocco for US$10.7 billion, bringing the Indian operator’s global subscriber base to 179 million upon completion. The deal is expected to close “as soon as reasonably practicable subject to the satisfaction of certain approvals”, a Zain press release stated.

"This agreement is a landmark for global telecom industry and game changer for Bharti Airtel…With this acquisition, Bharti Airtel will be transformed into a truly global telecom company with operations across 18 countries fulfilling our vision of building a world-class multinational,” commented Sunil Bharti Mittal, chairman and managing director of Bharti Airtel.

Mittal believes the strength of the Bharti brand and its unique business model will allow the operator to unlock the potential of the emerging markets in Africa.

“We are committed to partnering with the governments in these countries in taking affordable telecom services to the remotest geographies and bridging the digital divide,” Mittal added.

Subject to shareholder approval, the size of available distributable reserves and the repayment of the US$4 billion revolving credit facility, Zain intends to distribute a large proportion of its upfront net proceeds to shareholders in the form of dividends. The group intends to focus on the high ARPU-generating operations in the Middle East and to substantially improve its balance sheet.

Zain Bahrain has made the Middle East’s first LTE call in a trial conducted with Nokia Siemens Networks, in preparation for the network upgrade to go live by the end of this year.

The trial achieved a record download data speed of 70 Mbps and a minimum latency of 15 milliseconds – the smallest ever in any public LTE call, according to a statement made by the two companies. The live call was used to showcase applications such as multi-video streaming, high resolution video conferencing, voice over LTE, and LTE terminal mobility within an office environment.

Before LTE comes online in the kingdom, Zain customers can expect a dramatic improvement in accessing the Internet with speeds of up to 14 Mbps with I-HSPA. There will also be a improvement in general coverage throughout Bahrain. It is planned that LTE upgrades will also be applied to all networks within the Zain Group.