Operators

The Qatar Foundation has announced plans to shift its 5% stake in Indian market leader Bharti Airtel for around $1.5 billion.

China Telecom is reportedly considering an acquisition of a majority holding in Brazil’s Oi for BRL20 billion ($6 billion).

Orange has announced the opening of two very large-capacity IP and IPX Points of Presence (PoP) in South Africa.

MTN CEO Rob Shuter has stated he expects the group’s initial public offering (IPO) of its Nigerian unit to be complete within six months, given the progress of preparations.

Zain CEO Bader Nasser Al-Kharafi has confirmed that the firm will continue to sell off its infrastructure assets in pursuit of more lucrative investment strategies.

Indonesian market leader Telkomsel has acquired a 30MHz block of 2.3GHz spectrum for IDR1.01 trillion ($75 million).

Naguib Sawiris of Orascom, Egypt’s largest private sector employer, is seeking to annul the latest ICSID ruling in its long running dispute with the Algerian government.

Kuwait’s Zain has partnered with Towershare in a deal to sell and lease back its local mobile towers to IHS Holding Limited for US$165 million.

Omantel has signalled its aim to acquire a further 12% holding in Zain Group by signing a letter of intent with Zain shareholder Al Khair National for Stocks and Real Estate (Al Khair).

Tata Teleservices is being shuttered by its parent company Tata Sons, with regional unit chiefs told that operations will be closed by March 2018.

Two of India’s Big Three have filed a legal challenge against the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s decision to significantly reduce interconnect charges ahead of scrapping them altogether.

9mobile’s thirteen bank creditors are working together to enable a sale of the operator by the end of the year.

The Ghanaian subsidiaries of Millicom and Airtel are on course to merge, with the proposal receiving conditional approval from the country’s National Communications Authority (NCA).

Telefonica Colombia will generate capital of around €1.8 billion as it attempts to write down debt as well as settle a fine issued to it earlier this year.

STC is believed to be the most likely candidate to obtain a 55% stake in Turk Telekom from the operator’s beleaguered majority shareholder Oger Telecom.

India’s tax authorities have issued a tax bill totalling INR79 billion ($1.23 billion) to CK Hutchison’s international telecoms unit.

China Unicom has confirmed that Alibaba, Baidu, JD.com and Tencent are all taking part in its upcoming CNY78 billion ($11.7 billion) share sale.