Bharti Airtel is said to be close to a deal that would see its sell its tower assets in Africa for as much as US$3 billion. The funds are expected to be used to help bring the company’s debt down to more manageable levels.

Up to US$2 billion of the sale proceeds will be used to retire debt, with the rest being used for network upgrades.

Paying down the debt could boost pre-tax profits by around US$100 million. Airtel would still be left with debts of around US$8.4 billion.

Four companies, Helios Towers Africa, IHS, American Tower and Eaton Towers are said to have been shortlisted for the deal, which would include the tower assets in most of the 17 African countries that Airtel operates in.

Airtel owns around 15,000 towers on the continent.

Airtel Kenya has welcomed the regulator’s recent decision to license three MVNOs, saying that it welcomes the competition in the market.

Three companies – Zioncell, Tangaza Pesa and Fincell (a subsidiary of Equity Bank) – have all been granted licences to act as virtual operators.

All three companies have signed agreements to use Airtel’s network infrastructure rather than that offered by rivals.

The three MVNOs have also been granted mobile money licences, which are almost essential if they are to compete in the market dominated by Safaricom.

Vodafone Qatar has announced the launch of its 4G network, which it says will incorporate the newest content proposition and in-store experience.

From June 3, all Vodafone customers with a 4G enabled device will automatically receive 4G service, at no subscription fees, to enjoy using their existing data bundles. 

Vodafone has partnered with ‘Go by OSN’ and Anghami to give customers access to a selection of movies, series and music.

‘Go,’ OSN’s premium online TV service, offers Qatar residents access to thousands of hours of entertainment. The service is currently available on PCs and Macs, smartphones and tablets and subscribers can take advantage of dual-device screening, where two different shows can be streamed on separate devices simultaneously.

With up to a six-month trial followed by QR37 (US$10) a month, customers choosing ‘Go by OSN’ can access over 500 movies, 150 series and over 100 kids and family shows. Subscribers can also enjoy up to 8GB of video streaming from ‘Go by OSN’ every month at no additional charge.

Google is reported to be planning on deploying a low earth satellite network in order to extend Internet connectivity to the entire planet.

The billion-dollar venture would see the company launch its own satellites and use them to provide Internet access in rural areas that are currently not served by terrestrial services.

Being a low-earth orbit network, the satellites should be close enough to the ground to reduce the latency on the connection, which has often been the main problem with such services in the past.

Google has previously backed the independent organisation O3b Networks, which aims to offer the same service, but has now hired staff from that company to work on its own network.

The network would initially cost around US$1 billion, but that could rise to US$3 billion if the entire network of 180 mini-satellites was to be launched.

Mobily, the second-largest mobile operator in Saudi Arabia, has ended talks to buy a stake in fixed-line operator Etihad Atheeb Telecommunications (EATC), putting in check any quad-play ambitions it might have had.

In a statement to the kingdom’s bourse, Mobily – an affiliate of the UAE’s Etisalat – said it had been conducting talks with four founding EATC shareholders via Bayanat, a wholly-owned Mobily subsidiary (which already has a fixed-line data licence).

By adding EATC it was expected Mobily would be able to offer fixed and mobile packages, including landline calls.

Mobily’s statement does not say why the discussions were called off.

Reuters reports that Mobily last month said it wanted to acquire a 20 per cent stake in EATC through a rights share issue.

It seems, however, that discussions had been dragging on. It was back in August last year that a memorandum of understanding was signed by Bayanat and EATC’s founding shareholders to buy a controlling interest in the company.

EATC has around 200,000 customers. Reuters reports that it made a loss of SAR249 million (US$66.4 million) for the 12 months ending March 31, 2014.