Friendi Group has finally entered a strategic cooperative agreement with Zain to provide mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) services in Jordan, approximately two years after it received its original licence. The deal will allow Friendi to leverage capacity from Zain’s network to provide targeted services to specific customer segments under the Friendi banner.

Friendi Group’s Mikkel Vinter and Zain Jordan’s Malek Al Jaber at the signing of the strategic network agreement

The MVNO will offer services to the Jordanian market during the second quarter of 2010 and will target the prepaid consumer market. This is Friendi’s second operation in the Middle East after launching services in Oman in 2009, where it has garnered close to 150,000 subscribers.

While Friendi and Saudi-based mobile distributor and wholesaler i2 have both held MVNO licences in Jordan since 2008, the country’s fiercely competitive mobile landscape had previously deterred network operators Zain, Orange and Umniah from penning any such agreements with the prospective MVNOs.

“Jordan is the second market destination for Friendi Group within the region after launching mobile services in Oman. Our services have been very successful with high demand, something we expect to see in Jordan too,” commented Friendi Group CEO Mikkel Vinter. He added the group plans to launch some products and services in the Jordan that have not been offered before by the other mobile operators.

CEO of Zain Jordan, Malek Al Jaber, said the strategic agreement with Friendi Group was is in line with Zain’s overall strategy based on targeted and segmented acquisitions, as well as offering quality service in spite of the market reaching saturation, with more than 100 per cent mobile penetration.

Al Jaber further noted that Zain is currently working on expanding its network and has assigned JD100 million (US$141 million) this year to increase overall capacity. Zain currently leads the Jordanian market with 2.7 million subscribers and a market share of around 47 per cent.

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All four companies and consortia that submitted first round bids on December 23, 2009, for a 75 per cent stake in Zambia’s Zamtel, have successfully proceeded to the second round of bidding. The bidders are Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) of India, LAP Greencom Ltd/LAP Green Networks of Libya, Unitel/Angola Cables of Angola and Altimo Holdings/VimpelCom of Russia.

State-owned Zamtel is the fixed line incumbent and also owns mobile operator Cell-Z and Internet service provider Zamtel Online.

The Zambia Development Agency (ZDA) board held a meeting on January 11, 2010 and approved the recommended shortlist, after a detailed analysis conducted by an evaluation committee.

“The bids submitted were compelling, and set the stage for an exciting next phase,” stated Muhabi Lungu, acting director general of the ZDA.

The four bidders are now invited to participate in the next round of bidding, which is expected to commence this week. Shortlisted bidders will be given details of the requirements and timing for the next phase of the process.

Zamtel is the third-placed mobile operator in Zambia after Zain and MTN, counting around 200,000 subscribers at the beginning of 2009.

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TeliaSonera, the first operator in the world to launch 4G services, has selected its vendors for the next stage of its 4G/LTE rollout across Sweden and Norway. The common 4G/LTE core network will be delivered by Ericsson and the radio networks by Ericsson and Nokia Siemens Networks.

4G mobile broadband allows users to access high-bandwidth services such as video conferencing, real-time web, online gaming or social media collaboration, while on the move

In late 2009, 4G services were made live to subscribers in Stockholm, Sweden and Oslo, Norway. The network will be expanded to cover Sweden’s 25 largest municipalities and recreation areas, and to Norway’s four largest municipalities.

“The use of mobile broadband in the Nordic countries is exploding and customers need higher speeds and capacity. Both Ericsson and Nokia Siemens Networks have been able to provide high quality technology and competitive offers,” stated Lars Klasson, senior vice president and CTO of Mobility Services, TeliaSonera.

The operator has nationwide 4G/LTE licences in the 2.6 GHz frequency band in Sweden, Norway and Finland. The agreement with Ericsson and Nokia Siemens Networks covers network rollout during 2010 and 2011. Meanwhile Chinese vendor Huawei will continue to finalise the 4G city network in Oslo.

Ericsson has signed commercial LTE contracts with three other operators in addition to TeliaSonera, including Verizon Wireless and MetroPCS in the US, and NTT DoCoMo in Japan. Together with NTT DoCoMo, Ericsson initiated LTE standardisation at the international standardisation body 3GPP in 2004, and has made the largest amount of approved contributions to the group. Ericsson also expects to hold 25 per cent of all essential patents for LTE, making it the largest patent holder in the industry.

Batelco has inked a deal with Global Banking Corporation (GBCORP) laying the foundation for a strategic partnership that would allow GBCORP to acquire 11 per cent of S-Tel in India. S-Tel is a joint venture between Batelco and India’s Siva Group that has licences to operate in six Indian states. Batelco owns a 49 per cent stake of S-Tel.

Batelco and GBCORP believe 35-45 per cent of S-Tel’s subscriber based in 2012 will come from the North East telecommunications circle

Batelco group CEO Peter Kaliaropoulos stated that since launching operations in December 2009, the mobile operator had acquired more than 300,000 subscribers in three of the six service areas. These are Orissa, Bihar and Himachal Pradesh, with services yet to be launched in the North-East, Assam, and Jammu and Kashmir circles.

“Together with our investment partners, GBCORP and the Siva Group, we aspire to make S-Tel a leading and formidable operator in India’s rural sector,” Kaliaropoulos commented.

Ahmed Al Khan, senior executive director and head of investment banking at GBCORP, said that in terms of the telecom market in India, the next significant growth area for S-Tel is the potential C Circle, comprising India’s North -East region, which covers 26 per cent of the land area and 20 per cent of the population.”

“Subscribers in this segment will account for 35-45 per cent of the total subscriber base by 2012, making it one of the fastest growing telecom market segments,” stated Al Khan.

Siva Group is a US$3 billion group with diversified business interests in verticals such as wind energy, shipping and logistics, hospitality and realty, media, EPC, education and agriculture.

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Batelco enters India for US$225 million

Image: GSMA & Decisive Media

Zul Javaid is stepping down as CEO of Warid Telecom Uganda after two years at the helm. Javaid, who leaves at the end of January, says he will be joining a telecom company that operates in the Middle East and East Africa.

Javaid becomes the highest profile executive to leave the Ugandan operator since Indian telco, Essar, took over a 51 per cent stake in the company late last year.

“I made my own decision (to leave) independently, and I can assure you I don’t know who is taking over from me, but I’m sure Essar will be bringing in some of their own management staff,” Javaid told media in Uganda.

Warid Telecom Uganda has added around 1.5million subscribers.

In the middle of November the Essar Group announced it was to acquire a 51 per cent stake in the telecom operations of the Dhabi Group, an investment company led by Abu Dhabi’s royal family. Essar Group was reported to have paid around US$150 million for stakes in Warid Telecom Uganda and Warid Telecom Congo.

The agreement was signed by Sheikh Nahyan Mabarak al Nahyan, chairman of the Dhabi Group, and Prashant Ruia, group chief executive of Essar in Abu Dhabi. The enterprise valuation of the Uganda and Congo operations collectively is estimated at US$318 million. Essar already has a presence in Kenya’s telecom sector through its operation branded ‘Yu’, with the Indian operator looking to strengthen its foothold in the African market.