Egyptian telecommunications group, Orascom Telecom, is in talks with Telekom Austria to either buy a stake in the operator or merge it with Orascom, according to reports.

If Orascom merged with Telekom Austria, the combined group would have a footprint across 16 countries in Africa, Asia and Europe.

The Austrian government’s holding company, OeIAG, is the largest single shareholder in Telekom Austria with 27.37 per cent, and would need to approve the sale of any stake.

The remainder of the Austrian operator is floated on the stock market with a valuation of approximately €6.9 billion (US$9.8 billion).

OeIAG and Telekom Austria have not commented on the rumours which initially ran in an Austrian newspaper, however, the operator’s CEO Boris Nemsic stated in an interview last month he was “open but neutral” on possible “strategic partnerships” with other telecoms operators.

Telekom Austria has operations in Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovenia, Liechtenstein, Serbia, Macedonia, Belarus and Czech Republic, with 16.5 million subscribers as of June 2008.

It is believed that private equity firm Weather Investments – which is controlled by Orascom chairman and CEO Naguib Sawiris – would work with Orascom on a proposed deal.

Orascom’s telecom empire currently owns operators in Algeria, Pakistan, Egypt, Tunisia, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe with 74 million subscribers at the end-March 2008, while Orascom’s subsidiary Cheo Technology acquired a mobile licence in North Korea in January.

Egypt’s regulator has postponed the bidding for a second fixed-line licence for the third time until late 2009, citing adverse international market conditions and rising inflation.

Telecom Egypt is currently the country’s sole fixed-line provider with 11.3 million subscribers, but net additions have dropped by 75 per cent since the first half of last year

The National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA) had initially scheduled the bidding for June 19  this year, which was later rescheduled to July 29, and then again to September 18.

The regulator’s executive president, Amr Badawi, commented that the decision was made in light of the discussions that took place between the NTRA and the twelve companies that bought the specifications handbook, which includes Orascom Telecom, Atheeb, Alcan, Giza Systems, Etisalat, France Telecom, Ericsson and Alcatel-Lucent.

“The ICT international markets in Europe and the United States are facing major fluctuations due to the increasing inflation rates and the increasing prices,” the NTRA said in a statement on their website. “The ICT investments worldwide are accordingly shrinking. Therefore the decision was taken to postpone the license until a tangible improvement in the international market is witnessed.”

The NTRA said the bidding companies preferred to delay the auction for a year, especially as the setup costs for a second fixed-line network in Egypt could amount to US$1 billion.

Analyst at Cairo-based investment firm HC Securities, May Khamis, stated the move was an expected decision as the country’s sole fixed-line provider, Telecom Egypt, witnessed a 75 per cent decline in net additions in the first half of 2008 compared to the same period last year.

An Etisalat manager in the UAE accused of embezzling AED27 million (US$7.4 million) has been placed under investigation and will be brought before the courts.

It is alleged the employee who was in charge of payroll at one of the company’s branches, was able to covert regular payments from the accounts of payrolls into her personal account in local banks, and transferred AED2 million at a time, for more than two years.

Etisalat’s corporate communications manager, Ahmed bin Ali, said the money had been recovered, while the Ministry of Interior stated that the operator was yet to officially lodge a complaint.

Etisalat’s share prices were affected by a fall of 2.29 per cent after news of the embezzlement hit investors.

Orange Jordan has launched its IPTV service ‘TV from Orange’ on the anniversary of the Jordan Telecom’s rebranding to Orange, however, the service comes three months later than initially planned.

Orange Jordan’s IPTV service will be delivered through the Orange Livebox ADSL wireless router

Designed for broadband connections and Orange’s Livebox ADSL wireless router, the IPTV service will provide subscribers with high-quality broadcast TV, video on demand (VOD), and other interactive services and premium Arabic and international content.

The service was launched in collaboration with Russian telecoms solutions supplier, Intracom Telecom, and the Arab Radio and Television Network (ART), a leading producer of Arabic media.

However, the appeal and uptake of such a service will remain to be seen, with only 100,000 ADSL broadband subscribers in Jordan as of March this year.

Orange Internet will offer this service to its subscribers in two packages; subscribers can access 21 satellite channels for monthly fees up to JOD25 (US$35) or view 25 satellite channels for JOD30.  Videos on demand will cost JOD1.5 (US$2) each.

Grameen Telecom, the local shareholder of Bangladesh’s biggest mobile operator Grameenphone, said it was not ready to pay any fine for ‘illegal’ activities committed by its majority stakeholder, Norway-based Telenor.

The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (TRC) fined Grameenphone BTK4,184,000,000 (US$61 million) in two separate cases for its involvement in illegal international call termination business using voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).

It is expected that Grameen Telecom will have to pay 38 per cent of the fee, while Telenor, will pay the remainder reflecting its 62 per cent stake in Grameenphone.

“Grameenphone is run by the Telenor management. So Telenor is to blame for any illegal activity. Why should we pay for their repeated illegal activities in Bangladesh?” a Grameen Telecom official told reporters.

Telenor said in a statement on Friday that it agreed with chairman of Grameen Telecom, Muhammad Yunus, that the circumstances surrounding the VoIP issue needed further investigations, especially to uncover the persons responsible.