South Africa-based Vodacom’s net profits increased by only 3.2 per cent to ZAR3.8 billion (US$363 million) year-on-year, while revenues grew 14 per cent to ZAR26 billion, the operator revealed in its financial results for the six months ending September 30.

CEO Pieter Uys says Vodacom has focused on increasing non-voice revenue and gaining access to new markets in Africa

Of this, the data segment continued to grow rapidly with revenues up 43.3 per cent on last year and which now account for 13.1 per cent of Vodacom’s service revenue.

Operational profit rose 12.5 per cent to ZAR6.4 billion and EBITDA increased by 13.9 per cent to ZAR8.7 billion.

Vodacom also grew its group customer base to 35.7 million subscribers in five countries, an increase of 13.1 per cent from the same period last year. The vast majority of subscribers are in the operator’s home market with 25.2 million customers in South Africa, 4.9 million in Tanzania, 3.8 million in the Democratic Republic of Congo, 1.3 million in Mozambique and 450,000 in Lesotho.

Total ARPU increased 5.7 percent to US$10.60 and South African ARPU increased 8.2 per cent to US$12.60, which is attributed to strong growth in data revenue and as a result of a more aggressive prepaid deletion rule.

“As we evolve, we’ve increased the non-voice share of our business and increased the portion of our business coming from high growth markets outside South Africa,” stated CEO Pieter Uys. “With the intended acquisitions of Gateway Communications and StorTech announced in August, we have opened up further opportunities in servicing the total communications needs of corporate clients and we have gained footholds in important new markets across Africa.”

Uys notes that another significant event that took place during the half-year was the completion of Vodacom’s ZAR7.5 billion BEE (Black Economic Empowerment) transaction.

“The YeboYethu public offer, a large component of the transaction, proved hugely popular and was almost three times oversubscribed. We were particularly successful in promoting broad-based ownership, gaining more than 100,000 new shareholders – almost 60 per cent of which had applied for the minimum number of shares,” Uys commented.

Vodacom’s owners are South Africa’s Telkom and the UK’s Vodafone, the latter obtaining approval in early November to raise its stake to 65 per cent .

Oman’s regulator has confirmed that a consortium led by Nawras, the country’s second mobile operator, is now the successful bidder of the second fixed-line licence ahead of the PCCW-Awaser consortium, which was previously announced the winning bidder on October 25.

Nawras CEO Ross Cormack is thrilled to gain access to Oman’s fixed-line and broadband market

The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) issued a statement noting that the license was awarded to the Nawras consortium “on condition that it will honour all the obligations specified in the Information Memorandum, which comprises the tender terms and condition relating to the bidding process.”

“We are very proud to have been chosen as the new provider of fixed-line services for the people of Oman,” stated CEO of Nawras, Ross Cormack. “The whole company will work together to support the sultanate’s bold vision for delivering the highest possible standard of communications and we are well positioned to leverage Qtel’s growing international expertise in developing and deploying fixed-line and broadband services.”

Nawras is a subsidiary of Qatar Telecom (Qtel) and enjoys a 43 per cent market share with 1.4 million mobile customers since launching operations in the country in March 2005.

Chairman of Qtel, Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohammed Bin Saud Al-Thani, stated the announcement was another important step for the Qtel Group in their international expansion and deepening service offerings for customers.

“We are confident that Nawras will bring the same level of innovation and value to the Omani fixed-line market that it has to the mobile sector and that the increased choice will benefit everyone in Oman.”

The first mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) for the Middle East will launch in Oman in early 2009, the company CEOs confirmed today.

MVNO CEO Panel: Mikkel Vinter of FRiENDi Mobile, Faisal Al Bannai of Axiom Telecom, Abdul Hameed Al Sunaid of i2 and Niklas Nielsen of Majan Telecom, with conference chairman Zoran Vasiljev, director of telecom practice at Arthur D. Little.

Speaking as part of an MVNO panel at the Telecoms World conference in Dubai, FRiENDi Mobile’s Mikkel Vinter and Majan Telcom’s Niklas Nielsen stated they were preparing their service rollouts.

Connect Arabia – the local company which will operate under the FRiENDi banner, and Majan Telecom, which will launch under the brand Renna, were two of five successful bidders to obtain Class 2 licenses in the sultanate in July. A sixth licence was awarded in October to an unidentified company.

The licences allow FRiENDi and Majan to purchase bulk minutes from Oman’s two incumbent mobile operators, repackage them and then sell them to the end-user.

FRiENDi and Majan will piggyback off Omantel’s network. The Omani operator’s CEO Mohammed Al Wohaibi previously told Comm. it will announce agreements with MVNOs by the end of the year, while Ross Cormack, CEO of the country’s second mobile operator Nawras stated that no agreements had been made with resellers.

Also on the panel was Faisal Al Bannai, the CEO of Dubai-based Axiom Telecom, one of the largest authorised distributor and retailer of mobile phones in the Middle East in both branded and partner outlets.

Al Bannai stated that while his company has not acquired a reseller license yet, it is pursuing opportunities in India, where in July Axiom formed a 50/50 joint venture with the leading reseller in the world’s second largest market, Pantaloon Retail.

Axiom will soon have 500 points of presence across India and is banking on its combination of strong brand presence and distribution outlets. It is also considering opportunities in other countries where it has a footprint such as Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, and Egypt.

Abdul Hameed Al Sunaid, the chief executive of i2, another leading mobile retailer in the Middle East, stated his company has an MVNO licence in Jordan but is yet to reach an agreement with an existing operator.

India’s Reliance Communications (RCom) is contemplating a bid for Iran’s third mobile licence, estimated to cost US$1 billion, according to reports.

Reliance Communications is among several operators linked with the tender for Iran’s third mobile licence, which includes access to 3G spectrum

“Reliance has shown interest to bid for the tender and will compete with firms from Russia, Turkey and Malaysia for the tender, the bids for which will be called within a month,” an unidentified Iranian government official told Indian press.

Russia’s VimpelCom and MegaFon had previously signalled their interest, as had Bahrain-based regional operator Zain and Qatar Telecom.

An official from RCom declined to comment specifically on the licence, but noted that the company has “substantial international operations and continuously evaluates various growth opportunities globally, both organic and inorganic, on an ongoing basis”.

RCom is one of India’s leading integrated telecommunications companies with more than 60 million customers.

Among its several international alliances and subsidiaries, the company acquired a licence in Uganda in February that will allow it to offer mobile, fixed, Internet, national and international long distance services across the East African country. In April, RCom also acquired eWave World, a UK-based WiMAX operator.

Iran’s third mobile licence will give the winning bidder access to 3G spectrum for an exclusive period ahead of incumbents state-backed Telecommunications Company of Iran (TCI) and MTN Irancell, which is 49 per cent owned by Africa’s largest operator, MTN.

Mobile penetration in Iran stands at around 50 per cent, with TCI serving 24.6 million subscribers and MTN Irancell having been able to garner 11.5 million customers to end-June, since launching late in 2006, a market share in excess of 30 per cent.

Japan’s largest telecom operator, NTT Docomo, has acquired a 26 per cent stake in Indian operator Tata Teleservices (TTSL) for US$2.7 billion.

Docomo, with more than 53 million customers in its home market, has entered India through a 26 per cent stake in Tata Teleservices.

TTSL is the sixth largest wireless carrier in India with more than 30 million CDMA subscribers.

Docomo and Tata Sons have also signalled their intent to make a joint offer to purchase up to 20 per cent of the outstanding common shares of Tata Teleservices Maharashtra (TTML), a Tata telecommunications company in which TTSL holds 38 per cent.

Tata Sons, the prime promoter company for the various businesses run under the Tata brand, holds 45 per cent of TTSL, while Tata Communications holds 15 per cent.

Recently Tata announced it would spend US$2 billion over the next two years on expanding its CDMA network, as well as upgrading its new GSM network which it plans to launch by the end of the year. However, it has only received GSM spectrum in five of the country’s 22 telecommunications circles.

The company also announced plans to launch a WiMAX network next year across 15 Indian cities.

Docomo has more than 53 million customers in Japan and has 100 per cent ownership of Docomo Pacific in Guam and Mariama. It also owns minority stakes in Hutchinson Telecom in Hong Kong, Far East One in Taiwan, KTF in South Korea, PLDT of Philippines, UMobile in Malaysia, and AKTEL in Bangladesh.