Operators

Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison (Indosat) president director and CEO Vikram Sinha (pictured) said the operator proved doubters of its US$6 billion mega-merger wrong, and the company is poised to achieve growth in Indonesia.

There seems to be reasonably positive news for Digicel, an operator present in about 25 markets across the Caribbean and Central America, but less positive news for its founder and Chairman Denis O’Brien, as creditors move to seize control of the business in return for its writing off $1.8 billion of its borrowings.

At Mobile World Congress 2023, Ooredoo has extended its partnership with Huawei to implement the vendor’s 5G solutions in Iraq, Kuwait, Oman and Tunisia.

Vietnam’s MobiFone has signed a 5G cooperation agreement with Nokia at MWC 2023.

Etisalat launched standalone (SA) 5G in the United Arab Emirates, claiming this to be the first SA 5G in the Middle East and North Africa.

Indonesia’s Telkomsel is boosting its collaboration with ZTE, with the two parties signing an MoU at Mobile World Congress 2023 that will see them jointly develop enterprise 5G services.

Econet Wireless selected Ericsson to upgrade its RAN and mobile core network in Zimbabwe's capital city Harare, as part of its wider strategy to expand 5G footprint in the country and enable enterprise use cases.

It’s only been a matter of months since a new service provider, Celtiis, entered the Benin market. Now, however, the number three operator is apparently preparing to deploy 5G mobile technology.

Denis O’Brien, founder and Chairman of Digicel, an operator present in about 25 markets across the Caribbean and Central America, is reportedly asking for extra time for the company to make debt repayments.

Angolan operator and market leader Unitel saw market share decline as newcomer Africell launched services in April last year. 

It’s not just in India that telecoms giant Airtel is driving 5G rollout. A recent announcement from Airtel Uganda highlights plans to upgrade key infrastructure for 5G purposes.

Reliance Jio announced it has reached 277 cities in India with its standalone 5G network after its recent deployment in 20 locations nationwide.

Ooredoo Group CEO Aziz Aluthman Fakhroo said the operator is in the last rounds of negotiations with interested parties for its portfolio of towers, with a deal it expects to be finalised this year, reported Bloomberg.

A1 Telekom Austria Group’s board agreed to a plan to spin off its passive telecoms infrastructure into a separate company.

Following approval from Ghanaian authorities, Vodafone Group has sold off its majority 80% stake in Vodafone Ghana to Telecel Group, continuing its strategy to streamline its footprint.

Globe Telecom lauded its achievement in hitting infrastructure deployment targets as the Philippines-based operator continues its build-out to meet consumer demand for connectivity, which has gathered pace since the pandemic.

Africa and the Middle East continued to boost revenues for Orange as the group claimed success in its 5-year plan to invest in “fundamentals” to achieve growth.

Xavier Niel, the billionaire owner of French telecoms group Illiad has increased his stake in Millicom to 19.6% through his investment company Atlas Investissement.

South African operator Telkom said it could put up for sale a minority stake in its core fibre business by March, as the company explores options to improve profits, Reuters reported.

Ooredoo Group reported a revenue lift of 4% in its 2022 full financial year, from QAR21.9 billion to QAR22.7 billion, as the company saw gains across most of its units.  

Dialog Axiata dropped to a loss in its full financial 2022 year due to one-off costs and rising operating expenses, despite also seeing growing revenue across its segments.

Tizeti, described as West Africa’s pioneer solar-based internet service provider (ISP), is launching its 4G LTE network in ten new states in Nigeria.

Millicom reported a “strong” 2022 in its latest Q4 financial report despite macroeconomic challenges and stated market share growth in mobile and fixed lines in the majority of its units.

Jordanian operator Umniah will launch 5G in phases across the country and will do so in partnership with Ericsson which will be its main equipment supplier.

Saudi Arabian operator Zain KSA has announced the signing of two significant agreements in recent days during the global tech event, LEAP2023, hosted at the Riyadh Front Expo Centre.

America Movil infrastructure company Sitios Latinoamerica concluded a deal to buy 1,388 towers from Claro in the Dominican Republic, boosting its presence in Latin America.

Reliance Jio expanded its standalone 5G network to 10 more cities in India taking its total base of cities to 236.

The pressure is still on Vodafone Idea (aka Vi), despite the Indian government taking a massive stake in the beleaguered operator. Third quarter dues are apparently overdue for payment, on top of which the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is planning to closely monitor Vodafone Idea’s performance for the next three months.

United Group, the parent company of Croatian operator Telemach, denied it is putting the unit up for sale but rather its passive infrastructure to pay off debts, as part of wider plans for all of its units in Eastern Europe.