STC posted a Q409 net profit of SAR 2.94 billion (US$784 million), an increase of 154 per cent year-on-year from SAR 1.16 billion in the fourth quarter of 2008. The state-owned integrated operator attributed this partly to the floating in November of a 25 per cent stake in Malaysian subsidiary Maxis, which added SAR 684 million to its coffers.

The Arab world’s largest telecom company by market value, saw its annual earnings per share drop by two per cent to SAR 5.41 .

Operating profit during the quarter slipped 8.2 percent to SAR 2.59 billion, while its full-year operating profit decreased by 16.8 percent to SAR 12.76 billion.

A precise amount was not given for the company’s revenues for 2009, but was stated at exceeding SAR 50 billion.

The company’s board proposed a dividend payout of SAR 0.75 per share for the fourth quarter, making a total of SAR 3 for the full year, lower than its 2008 payout of SAR 3.75 .

STC competes in the mobile market with Mobily, which posted a 35 per cent rise in fourth quarter profit, and with  Zain.

Equateur Telecom Congo (ETC), a subsidiary of Bahrain-headquartered Bintel, has won the fourth mobile operating licence in the Republic of Congo. Bintel currently operates networks in Gabon, Central African Republic and Somalia.

According to data from the Mobile World database, Zain currently leads the market in Congo with a share of 49.7 per cent, followed by MTN with 41.9 per cent and Warid with 8.5 per cent. The mobile penetration rate is roughly 70 per cent.

Bintel launched its GSM network in Gabon last October under the brand name ‘Azur’. The company operates as ‘Nationlink’ in Central African Republic and Somaliland, where it launched networks in July 2007 and June 2008 respectively.

Bintel is also a major shareholder in Switzerland-based Telesonique, a wholesale traffic company.

Vodafone Qatar and Alcatel-Lucent yesterday announced the deployment of the first solar and wind-powered mobile base station in Qatar. This initiative is part of Vodafone’s wider green technology programme to deploy green energy sources in all of its affiliates worldwide.

Alcatel-Lucent’s technology enables the mobile operator to take advantage of the fluctuating local weather conditions, while reducing ongoing costs and improving the quality of maintenance at remote or inaccessible sites. The trial site plays a key role in validating alternative energy solutions that can be implemented to other countries in the Vodafone Group, especially to areas not served by electrical grids.

The wind turbine at the Qatar site has been mounted at the top of the existing mast to leverage higher winds. The energy controller brings intelligent control to simultaneously draw power from both the photovoltaic panels and wind turbine, based on solar intensity and wind speed, making the most of the two sources’ fluctuating availability.

The system also carefully monitors battery charging cycles and diesel generator maintenance, as well as tracking real-time all weather and energy parameters.

The solution is provided by Alcatel-Lucent’s Alternative Energy Programme to address the challenge that more than 100,000 mobile base stations shall be equipped with alternative energy solutions between 2010 and 2012, representing a yearly savings of about seven million tonnes of CO_2.

Oman’s minister of national economy said the government may restore its previous plan to sell a minority stake in Omantel to a long-term investor in 2010. Ahmed Mekki told press that 30 per cent equity could be on offer, compared to the original 25 per cent quoted when the sultanate received expressions of interest in 2008.

“We are waiting for the global market to recover so we can start looking for a strategic investor again for Omantel,” Mekki stated yesterday.

The ministry of finance cancelled the sale in January 2009, citing the decline in the world financial markets. The sale would have reduced the ministry’s stake from 70 to 45 per cent.

“Despite the solid progress we have made with the sale process to date, and the continued strong interest shown by the bidders, the unprecedented market volatility and economic conditions that we are seeing globally has led to the government taking the prudent decision to stop the sale process,” stated the ministry’s secretary general, Darwish Esmail Al Balushi at the time the tender process was called off.

STC and Etisalat had both expressed interest in acquiring the strategic stake in the Omani operator.

Omantel is the sultanate’s incumbent unified operator providing fixed-line and Internet services under the parent company, and mobile services under the brand Oman Mobile.

However, it faces increasing competition with the upcoming award of a ten-year universal licence, in addition to the second fixed line licence that was awarded to Nawras in November 2008, and five licensed resellers.

Mobily announced today its net profit for 2009 had risen 44 per cent year-on-year to SAR 3.014 billion (US$804 million), from SAR 2.092 billion. Annual gross revenues increased 21 per cent to SAR13.058 billion.

Mobily attributed its high EBITDA margin of 37.04 per cent to the growing contribution from higher margin data revenues, high-spending postpaid subscribers and improved efficiencies.

Mobile broadband revenue based on HSPA technology increased 159 per cent from the previous year, while wholesale revenues represented by sales to third parties increased 470 per cent from 2008.

The operator has more than one million mobile broadband customers subscribed to high-usage bundles and with an overall mobile data exchange exceeding 50 terabytes per day, has the busiest HSPA network in the world. Data revenues contributed 14 per cent to overall revenues in 2009, compared to nine per cent the previous year. However, this is still below North American and Western European averages indicating further growth potential in this sector.

Net profit for the fourth quarter was SAR 1.052 billion, a 35 per cent increase from SAR 778 million year-on-year, and a 30.4 per cent increase from SAR 807 million quarter-on-quarter.

The company’s board of directors has recommended a dividend of SAR 875 million (SAR 1.25 per share), compared to SAR 0.75 per share upon 2008’s results, up almost 67 per cent.

During the year the operator also refinanced a SAR 1.5 billion loan and raised a SAR 900 million loan to extend its infrastructure. Both of these financing packages were achieved in the face of constrained liquidity and financial institutions being risk-adverse.

“The Hajj season was better than expected with Mobily capturing 52 per cent of pilgrims (1.3 million of the 2.5 million pilgrims) who visited the Holy sites. The 3.5G network in and around Makkah saw a 73 per cent increase in traffic compared to the previous year,” stated Mobily’s chairman Abdulaziz Al Sughayer.

Al Sughayer added the operator will continue to invest in infrastructure, its strong brand appeal and network distribution capabilities across the kingdom. Additionally, voice and value added data services, particularly for local and global enterprise customers, will be enhanced by Mobily’s participation in the Tata Global Network (TGN) Gulf Cable System, which will connect the region to the world’s major hubs and city centres. The system will provide added resilience for Mobily’s infrastructure and service capabilities and will give its users access to new high-speed routes to the world.

Mobily is 26.25 per cent owned by Etisalat and ended 2009 with an overall subscriber base of 18.2 million.