Operators

Israeli operator Cellcom is demanding ILS900 million ($233 million) from smaller competitor Golan Telecom as compensation after it pulled out of merger talks to work with another company.

Indian operators Reliance Communications and Aircel have extended the exclusivity period of their merger discussions.

Chilean operator Entel is partnering with Ericsson on the Swedish vendor’s global Ecology Management Product Take-Back program.

Millicom achieved revenues of US$1.53 billion in the first quarter of 2016, spurred by double digit growth in all but one of its African markets, while Latin American growth dwindled.

Zain Group, which operates in eight markets across the Middle East and Africa, announced consolidated revenues of KD277 million (US$919 million) for the first quarter of 2016.

Tanzania mobile operator Tigo has overtaken Airtel to become the second largest player in the country’s telecoms market.

MTN Group saw its Nigerian subscriber base decrease by 6.9 per cent in the first quarter of 2016 following recent subscriber registration requirements.

Orange has announced it has completed the acquisition of 100 per cent of mobile operator Tigo in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Sudatel Telecom Group has announced net profits for the 2015 fiscal year of US$52 million, with the operator saying it is “satisfied” with its performance over the year.

Malaysia-based MNO Axiata has entered the Nepal telecoms market having finalised its acquisition of the country’s leading operator Ncell for US$1.365 billion.

Virgin Mobile’s Middle East and Africa (VMMEA) unit has hit 2.5 million subscribers, claiming to be the fastest growing mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) in the region.

China Telecom has appointed its interim chairman and CEO Yang Jie to the chairman role on a permanent basis.

Indian operator Reliance Communications is transferring 5 million CDMA customers onto its rival Reliance Jio Infocomm’s 4G network.

Indian operators Aircel and BSNL have signed a nationwide inter-circle 2G roaming agreement.

Orange has acquired 100% of Cellcom, Liberia’s leading mobile operator, through its subsidiary Orange Côte d’Ivoire.

Vietnamese operator Viettel has secured negotiating rights to enter a local consortium set to receive Myanmar’s fourth mobile licence.

Indian operators Reliance Communications and Aircel have chosen to extend negotiations over a potential merger for another 60 days “based on good progress made so far”.

Bharti Airtel has entered into a definitive agreement with American Tower Corporation for the sale of approximately 1,350 of its communications towers in Tanzania.

Indian market leader Bharti Airtel is spending INR44.28 billion ($659 million) to obtain spectrum in six regions from the smaller player Videocon Telecom.

Helios Towers Nigeria is selling over 1200 towers to infrastructure company IHS in an agreement billed as Africa’s “first mobile infrastructure consolidation”.

A merger between the Sri Lankan units of Indian market leader Bharti Airtel and Malaysian operator group Axiata is reportedly on the cards.

Etisalat is suing MTN Nigeria in connection to its acquisition of the CDMA provider Visafone.

Orange is acquiring Millicom’s operations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Thai number three True is planning on funding its newly acquired 4G licences with a THB85 billion ($2.37 billion) rights issue.

Three of Pakistan’s operators have hit out against the government’s proposed sales tax on mobile handsets and SIM cards.

Following protracted negotiations, Thai market leader AIS has finally agreed to transfer more than 13,000 towers to state-owned TOT.