For the year 2008, Zain Group recorded consolidated revenues of US$7.441 billion, an all-time high, which reflected an increase of 26 per cent compared to 2007. The company’s consolidated EBITDA increased by 15 per cent for the same period to reach US$2.78 billion. Consolidated net profits reached US$ 1.2 billion, an increase of six per cent on 2007.

CEO Al Barrak said that if currencies had been stable, Zain would have added another 12 per cent to net profit

Year-on-year customer growth across the two continents in which Zain operates was 50 per cent with the operator serving 63.54 million active customers as at end-December, 2008.

“Despite a very challenging environment on many fronts and huge investments in network expansion, the group was able to achieve appealing and realistic levels of profitability during 2008, a testament to the sound management practices and excellent operational performance of all 22 operations in the Middle East and Africa,” commented Zain Group CEO, Saad Al Barrak.

Referring to the global financial crisis and volatility that has affected many equity markets, commodities and currencies, Al Barrak said, “Despite the fact that company had to endure higher borrowing rates in the second half of the year and an adverse US$138 million in currency exchange cost predominantly in Africa, it still performed admirably. This amount would have added another 12 per cent to the net profit figure should currencies have stayed relatively stable.”

Qtel’s aggressive marketing campaigns in Qatar over the past three months ahead of the looming end of its monopoly, have added a further 300,000 mobile customers, bringing the telco’s mobile subscriber base to 1.8 million, the operator announced today.

The delay of Vodafone Qatar’s full commercial launch until the latter part of this year, will allow incumbent Qtel to further grow its subscriber base ahead of direct competition

The company had previously reported 1.5 million subscribers in November 2008 and attributes the rapid accumulation of new mobile lines to the re-launch of its Hala Pay-As-You-Talk service and its Shahry postpaid service, with lower prices and additional options. This included Shahry’s ‘One Free Number’ campaign, which enables customers to select one number they can call for free indefinitely.

“We have always said that competition would be good for the people of Qatar and good for Qtel, since it will enable us to demonstrate just how attractive our services are, and will encourage us to fully understand our customers’ needs,” commented Adel Al Mutawa, executive director of group communications.

Second operator Vodafone Qatar switched on its network overnight allowing its first 100 customers to use the service from March 10, and the remaining 900 customers in its network trial to use the service shortly after.

As Comm. reported last month, Vodafone’s launch has been fraught with challenges, including disagreement with Qtel over interconnection fees, and a network rollout that was significantly behind schedule, meaning a true commercial launch is only likely in the second half of this year.

Related stories:

Qtel to launch unified roaming plan across 17 countries

Vodafone Qatar launch fraught with challenges

Qtel launches first defense of landline dominance

Orange Uganda (formerly Hits Telecom) is chasing a deadline to launch GSM services in the country by the end of March, with an optimistic launch date set for the middle of that month.

Orange Uganda will be the fourth mobile operator in the country, which counted fewer than 7.5 million subscribers at the end of September 2008, representing a mobile penetration rate of 25 per cent

As reported by Comm. last November, France Telecom confirmed it had acquired a 53 per cent stake in Hits Telecom Uganda, ending months of uncertainty with respect to whether or not the Ugandan licensee’s concession would be revoked.

In the middle of 2008 Uganda’s telecoms regulator, the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC), had warned the backers of Hits Telecom Uganda that the operation risked losing its licence if it did not commercially launch its network by September of that year. The licensee was granted a mobile concession in March 2007 and was given 18 months from that date to start offering commercial services.

Hits Telecom Uganda had built out part of its network, which is supplied by Alcatel-Lucent, and had carried out test calls, however, planned commercial launch dates were missed.

Upon launch, Orange Uganda will be the country’s fourth mobile operator behind Zain, MTN, and Warid Telecom. According to figures from Informa Telecoms & Media, at the end of Q308, Uganda counted approximately 7.4 million subscribers, representing a mobile penetration rate of around 25 per cent.

It was the investment by France Telecom towards the end of 2008, and the subsequent renegotiation of the network launch requirements that have gotten the licensee edging towards commercial launch. The universal service licence allows Orange Uganda to operate a range of access technologies including CDMA, GSM, WCDMA and WiMAX, and also permits the licensee to deploy an international gateway.

The cost of the acquisition by France Telecom was not revealed, though it has been speculated that the telco is looking to invest as much as US$375 million in the deployment of a network across Uganda.

Maroc Telecom has reported 2008 net profit of MAD9.5 billion (US$1.1 billion), an increase of 18.5 per cent from 2007. Consolidated annual revenue at the Moroccan operator grew by 7.2 per cent to MAD29.521 billion, generating an operating margin of 47 per cent.

Chairman of Maroc Telecom, Abdeslam Ahizoune, expects the operator to repeat a strong annual performance in 2009, with revenues to increase by three per cent

The company, which is 54 per cent owned by Vivendi, has proposed to distribute 100 per cent of its distributable income, representing a dividend yield of seven per cent.

Despite the prospect of increased competition in 2009, with the entrant of third mobile player Wana Telecom, to add to the presence of existing rival Medi Telecom, Maroc Telecom’s chairman Abdeslam Ahizoune expects the operator’s revenues to grow by three per cent this year.

“Our performance for this year will be good. Our business will remain on a strong path of growth. We have invested in new services that will generate more growth,” Ahizoune told local press.

However, analysts at Morgan Stanley have rated Maroc Telecom’s stocks as ‘underweight’ earlier this year, citing that the operator’s valuation was unattractive with the stock trading at a dividend yield of 8.1 per cent, below the peer group average of 9.2 per cent.

The analysts added that in addition to the award of a third 2G licence in Morocco, other risks to Maroc Telecom’s share performance include further regulatory restrictions on promotions and success in integrating and turning around acquired businesses.

Key value drivers for the company include a continued 100 per cent dividend payout, a stabilised fixed-line customer base, increasing broadband revenues and further room for growth with mobile penetration at 70 per cent.

Maroc Telecom commands a mobile market share of 63.4 per cent or 14.5 million subscribers, with Medi Telecom holding 34.7 per cent, and alternative provider Wana Corporate serving the remaining 1.9 per cent.

Related stories:

Wana wins third mobile licence in Morocco

Picking winners

Kenya’s fourth mobile operator Econet Wireless Kenya, trading as ‘Yu’, said it has gained 200,000 subscribers since launch in November 2008 and expects to have one million customers by July this year.

CEO of Econet Wireless Kenya, Srinivasa Iyengar, says the fourth mobile operator will remain the cheapest network in Kenya

Chief executive Srinivasa Iyengar – who replaced Michael Foley after he resigned earlier this month – predicts the operator will easily acquire four to five million subscribers within the next two to three years, with monthly average revenue per user of US$6-7.

"We are the … cheapest (network) in town today and we will be the cheapest forever," Iyengar told local press.

Iyengar added that the operator, backed by India’s Essar Communications, also has a licence in neighbouring Uganda, but no launch date has been planned yet. In Kenya, Yu’s network is still only confined to Nairobi and Mombasa, with a full nationwide network not expected to be complete until August or September.

Market commentators have questioned the feasibility and long term sustainability of Econet Wireless’ operation in Kenya, which launched with US$0.10 calls and aims to acquire customers through its aggressive price competitive tactics.

Safaricom leads the market with 12 million customers and 77.4 per cent market share. Second placed operator Zain, formerly Celtel, launched in 2004 and during that time has struggled to reach its three million customers and 19.3 per cent market share, in a market that has been adequately served by the incumbent. France Telecom’s Orange also launched late in 2008 and announced it had reached 300,000 subscribers.

Last year, India’s Essar Communications purchased a 49 per cent stake in Econet Wireless International (EWI), which is headquartered in South Africa and owns 70 per cent of the Kenyan subsidiary. Econet also has operations in Botswana, Burundi, Lesotho, New Zealand, Nigeria, South Africa, the UK and Zimbabwe, with more than 11 million subscribers.

Related stories:

Econet Wireless Kenya gains US$450 million loan as CEO quits

Yu launches in Kenya with US$0.10 calls to attract customers