Pan-African and Arab mobile operator Zain has reduced the subscriber target of its ACE (Accelerate, Consolidate, and Expansion) strategy to 110 million subscribers, down from a target of addressing 150 million subscribers by 2011. The three pillars of Zain’s ACE strategy, which were devised by group CEO Saad Al Barrak, had been to attain a US$6 billion EBITDA by 2011, become one of the top 10 leading telecoms
companies in the world by market capitalisation, and exceed 150 million customers across all its operations.

Speaking at the Africa Com event in Cape Town last month, Zain Africa CEO Chris Gabriel, publicly referred to the updated subscriber forecast, and the original 150 million figure no longer appears on the company’s website.

Continue reading →

Econet Wireless Kenya is set to launch operations as the country’s third mobile operator, by the end of November, according to Michael Foley, CEO for Africa of Essar Communications. The journey to commercial launch has been a long and twisting one for the Econet Wireless International, which was initially issued the licence in 2004 following lengthy court battles.

It had been suggested that Econet in its own right could not finance the rollout of the network, and was rescued earlier this year by Indian mobile telecoms company Essar Communication, a subsidiary of Essar Global, which acquired a 49 per cent stake in the Kenyan licensee.

Continue reading →

South Africa mobile telecoms  company Vodacom announced that UK operator Vodafone has agreed to acquire an additional 15 per cent stake in Vodacom Group from Telkom for a cash consideration of ZAR22.5 billion (US$2.2 billion) less the pro rata consolidated attributable net debt of Vodacom Group of approximately ZAR1.55 billion.

Vodafone has waited three years to secure a majority stake in Vodacom

The transaction will increase Vodafone’s shareholding in Vodacom Group from 50 per cent to 65 per cent. Vodacom Group will be listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) and the remaining 35 per cent of Vodacom Group will be demerged by Telkom to its shareholders.

Continue reading →

Omantel is entering a new era in its history, with the reintegration of previously spunoff Oman Mobile into the fold, and the introduction of a new corporate brand in the first  quarter of next year. CEO Mohammed Al-Wohaibi details the strategic course the telco has embarked upon, which he believes will safeguard it from the ravages of competition, and  outlines why redundancies – almost unheard of in the telco sector in the region – will help  position Omantel for future growth and resilience. Michelle Mills reports

Mohammed Al-Wohaibi, CEO of Omantel

“Going forward, to be able to be transformed into a customer-centric organisation with high efficiency and effectiveness, some of the staff that have been with the company a long time may not be able to be transformed accordingly,” states Mohammed Al-Wohaibi in an exclusive interview with Comm.

Continue reading →

China recorded its first monthly decline of mobile subscribers in its history, due to a difference in counting measures of CDMA subscribers between China Telecom and China Unicom.

China Telecom acquired China Unicom’s CDMA network in June, and in September China Unicom counted 41.73 million subscribers. However, China Telecom has disregarded customers who have not paid their most recent bill – 93.2 per cent of subscribers are post-paid – or those who the operator doubted would pay in the future.

Continue reading →