Halawala
December 11th, 2007, 08:17 AM
VODAFONE Group Plc, the world’s largest mobile phone company by sales, won Qatar’s second mobile telecommunications licence, beating rivals AT&T Inc and Verizon Communications Inc, the regulator said.
Newbury, England-based Vodafone and its partners Qatar Foundation Consortium submitted the highest bid in the second round auction for the licence, according to a statement on the Qatari regulator’s website yesterday.
The group is expected to launch services during 2008, after all closing procedures are completed, the regulator said.
International telecoms companies like Vodafone and AT&T are eyeing entry into lucrative markets in the Gulf states, where economic reforms are opening up the telecommunications industry to foreign investment for the first time.
Vodafone’s shares were up 1 pence, or 0.3%, at 186 pence midday in London. The company increased its mobile user base by 35mn during the first half to 241mn proportionate mobile customers.
The Qatari regulator had received initial bids from Argos Consortium, AT&T Qatar Mobile Consortium, Emirates Telecommunications Corp, or Etisalat, MTC and Vodafone.
Qatar Telecom Co is the country’s incumbent telecom provider for domestic, international fixed line and mobile services.
“We weren’t expecting Vodafone to get it, we were expecting someone from the GCC because they usually bid much higher than the Europeans,” Francois Doummar, product manager for business solutions at Qatar Telecom said.
The Doha-listed company has more than 1mn subscribers in Qatar and Oman through its Nawras unit. Qatar Telecom shares closed up 1% at QR249.5 yesterday, even as the overall market fell 0.7%.
“We were expecting people like MTC, who are more aggressive, or Etisalat who bid more to get it but maybe it was pushed by the government to get some more economic dynamism in the market with a European company,” he added.
Qatar is also in the process of opening up its fixed-line sector.
The top 10 listed telecom companies in the Middle East saw their average net profit rise 6% to $4.23bn in the first half of the year, with similar growth forecast for the second half, according to data compiled by Zawya.com.
Qatar’s regulatory authority, ictQATAR, did not disclose the value of the winning bid.
Marc Hammoud, an analyst at Cheuvreux Middle East, said “Qatar is a very promising market, and there is very high average revenue per user to be gained.’’
Dr Hessa al-Jaber, ictQATAR secretary general, said: “This is an important milestone in the liberalisation of the telecommunications market in Qatar. The introduction of competition will benefit the people and economy of Qatar.”
“This is the culmination of many months of hard work by the applicants and the ictQATAR team,” she added. “We look forward to the roll-out of new products and services in 2008.” – Agencies
http://www.dynax.co.uk/MobileComms/vodafone.gif
Newbury, England-based Vodafone and its partners Qatar Foundation Consortium submitted the highest bid in the second round auction for the licence, according to a statement on the Qatari regulator’s website yesterday.
The group is expected to launch services during 2008, after all closing procedures are completed, the regulator said.
International telecoms companies like Vodafone and AT&T are eyeing entry into lucrative markets in the Gulf states, where economic reforms are opening up the telecommunications industry to foreign investment for the first time.
Vodafone’s shares were up 1 pence, or 0.3%, at 186 pence midday in London. The company increased its mobile user base by 35mn during the first half to 241mn proportionate mobile customers.
The Qatari regulator had received initial bids from Argos Consortium, AT&T Qatar Mobile Consortium, Emirates Telecommunications Corp, or Etisalat, MTC and Vodafone.
Qatar Telecom Co is the country’s incumbent telecom provider for domestic, international fixed line and mobile services.
“We weren’t expecting Vodafone to get it, we were expecting someone from the GCC because they usually bid much higher than the Europeans,” Francois Doummar, product manager for business solutions at Qatar Telecom said.
The Doha-listed company has more than 1mn subscribers in Qatar and Oman through its Nawras unit. Qatar Telecom shares closed up 1% at QR249.5 yesterday, even as the overall market fell 0.7%.
“We were expecting people like MTC, who are more aggressive, or Etisalat who bid more to get it but maybe it was pushed by the government to get some more economic dynamism in the market with a European company,” he added.
Qatar is also in the process of opening up its fixed-line sector.
The top 10 listed telecom companies in the Middle East saw their average net profit rise 6% to $4.23bn in the first half of the year, with similar growth forecast for the second half, according to data compiled by Zawya.com.
Qatar’s regulatory authority, ictQATAR, did not disclose the value of the winning bid.
Marc Hammoud, an analyst at Cheuvreux Middle East, said “Qatar is a very promising market, and there is very high average revenue per user to be gained.’’
Dr Hessa al-Jaber, ictQATAR secretary general, said: “This is an important milestone in the liberalisation of the telecommunications market in Qatar. The introduction of competition will benefit the people and economy of Qatar.”
“This is the culmination of many months of hard work by the applicants and the ictQATAR team,” she added. “We look forward to the roll-out of new products and services in 2008.” – Agencies
http://www.dynax.co.uk/MobileComms/vodafone.gif