Egypt’s sole fixed-line operator, Telecom Egypt, saw first quarter profits to end-March surge 72 per cent year-on-year due to its 44.95 per cent stake in mobile provider Vodafone Egypt. The state-owned operator today reported profit of EGP961 million (US$171 million), with the Vodafone business contributing EGP350 million.

Vodafone contributed a significant amount to Telecom Egypt’s profitability in Q109

“Telecom Egypt continues to benefit from its investment in Vodafone Egypt, which has increased its customer base by 35 per cent and total voice minutes by 36 per cent year-on-year,” company chairman and CEO Akil Beshir said in a statement.

Consolidated revenues increased by six per cent over the period to EGP2.5 billion, with wholesale revenues growing 11 per cent to EGP1.05 billion and accounting for 42 per cent of the company’s total revenues.

Beshir stated Telecom Egypt is still on the hunt for an acquisition in the Middle East and North Africa region, and preferably one that is an integrated mobile and fixed-line player. The operator currently holds a cash balance of EGP1.8 billion with a net debt of EGP2 billion.

“We aren’t in a net cash position yet, we still have debts but our debt to EBITDA is very low, which means we have room to raise cash,” Beshir told press.

On May 14 Alcatel-Lucent announced it was selected by Telenor’s Indian subsidiary, Unitech Wireless, to deploy the operator’s initial GSM and EDGE mobile networks in the Kerala and Orissa telecoms circles. The price of the contract was not disclosed.

Unitech Wireless holds licences for all of India’s 22 telecoms circles and intends to launch commercially in the third quarter of this year. Telenor purchased 60 per cent of Unitech Wireless for US$1.07 billion in October 2008, and said in February it plans to raise its stake to 74 per cent.

Alcatel-Lucent will design, deploy and maintain its multi-standard GSM/EDGE radio access solution including its base station controller platform and TWIN transceivers, along with a next generation network mobile core network.

Telenor signed an infrastructure sharing agreement with Wireless-TT Info Service tower subsidiary and Quippo Telecom Infrastructure as part of its strategy to quickly rollout its network and reduce CAPEX. The tower sharing agreement allows Unitech Wireless to mount its mobile network antennas onto existing towers owned by Tata and Quippo, as well as any new towers that are built.

Telenor’s agreement covers approximately 40,000 sites, of which approximately 22,000 were to be in place by April. The remaining towers will be built throughout 2009 and 2010 in accordance with Unitech Wireless’ needs. The tower sharing and transmission agreements both have 20-year terms with options to extend the contracts for a subsequent five-year period.

Zain yesterday launched high speed data access across its One Network platform, allowing its travelling customers across the Middle East and East Africa to use 3G services without paying additional roaming surcharges.

The service has been initially launched separately within the Middle East and East Africa networks with cross-continent connectivity planned for later this year. Both prepaid and postpaid subscribers will be able to access Internet, email, MMS and BlackBerry services at local rates when crossing geographic borders.

Zain said it is the first mobile operator in the world to introduce cross-border local, GRX-based data access, which offers faster speeds and more cost effective rates than traditional Internet roaming.

“The benefits and synergies of having one brand are taking shape as we deliver and fulfil our promise to be first, daring and different,” stated Saad Al Barrak, Zain Group CEO.

It is anticipated that Kuwait will join the Middle East One Network with 3G access by the end of this month, with the rest of the operator’s African subsidiaries served by One Network gaining access to high-speed roaming over the course of this year.

The CEO of Canadian telecoms vendor Nortel has confirmed the company is in talks with several potential buyers over selling its divisions, as the company posted a US$507 million loss for the first quarter of this year.

“Decisions have not been taken and we continue to evaluate our restructuring alternatives. To provide maximum flexibility we are also taking the appropriate steps to complete the move to standalone businesses,” chief executive Mike Zafirovski added.

The company filed for bankruptcy protection in January and in April the vendor was granted an extension until July 30 to work out a recovery plan. It is currently undergoing a process to conclude the transition of its Carrier Networks, Metro Ethernet Networks, Enterprise Solutions and its LG-Nortel joint venture business units, a process that commenced in 2008.

According to news reports, Nortel declined a US$850 million offer by Nokia Siemens Networks in March for a large share of the carrier networks unit. Last week, reports suggested that enterprise communications firm Avaya was negotiating an agreement for Nortel’s enterprise unit, however, the two companies failed to close a deal.

The Toronto-headed company’s first quarter loss of US$507 million increased by 267 per cent year-on-year, up from a loss of U$138 million during the first quarter of 2008. Revenues decreased by 37 per cent year-on-year to US$1.73 billion, largely impacted by currency fluctuations. The company’s cash balance rose to US$2.48 billion compared to US$2.4 billion in December last year.

“We accomplished our initial objectives of maintaining our customer commitments and strengthening our operational performance. Network performance and customer service levels are at multi-year highs and customers are expressing their support of Nortel,” added Zafirovski.

On May 10, Batelco completed its purchase of Indian GSM start up S Tel for US$225 million, following an agreement signed in January for the Bahrain-based operator to acquire a 49 per cent shareholding.

S Tel is yet to launch operations, but holds licences in six Indian states – Bihar, Orissa, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, North East and Assam, which together have a combined population of 230 million and mobile penetration of less than 20 per cent.

“Conditions have been satisfied and Batelco has completed the first phase of its investment in S Tel. Batelco now holds a 36.9 per cent share of S Tel and in the coming months the shareholding will increase to 49 per cent,” stated Batelco Group CEO Peter Kaliaropoulos.

Batelco’s immediate responsibility is to assist the Chennai-based licensee in advancing the rollout of its network infrastructure in preparation for a launch in the fourth quarter of this year, with a focus on the north east and north west of the country.

The conclusion of the deal closely follows reports on May 8 that Indian conglomerate Sahara India Pariwar acquired 11.7 per cent of S Tel for an estimated US$55 million. Prior to Sahara’s purchase, it is believed that private equity firms Skycity Foundations and Telecom Investments (Mauritius) held the remaining 51 per cent of S Tel.