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Colombia: Comsat signs contract for Compartel project |
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Wednesday, 16 January 2008 |
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BT Colombia subsidiary Comsat has reached a US$ 33 million, four year contract with the Colombian Ministry of Communications for the third phase of the Compartel universal service program.
Comsat is required to install broadband services in 1,711 public schools in Northern Colombia. The company will also set up, manage and maintain the necessary IT infrastructure, and establish and manage a remote LAN.
For the first stage of Compartel’s internet program in 2004, Comsat was selected to provide Internet connectivity to 3,300 public institutions in the North. In the third phase of the program, Comsat will extend internet services to benefit 5,000 institutions. Source: Convergencia Digital - WDR/Intelecon Regulatory News. |
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Brazil: Anatel allocates coverage obligations to 3G auction winners |
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Monday, 14 January 2008 |
Anatel, the National Telecommunications Agency has allocated coverage responsibility for uncovered municipalities among the mobile operators that won the recent 3G spectrum auction.
The responsible operators are required to provide mobile coverage to 1,836 unserved municipalities. Anatel requires that service be provided to all uncovered localities by February 2010. Operators must provide coverage to half of their allocated communities by February 2009. The cities to be served in the first phase was made by the winning bidders with the assistance of Anatel.
The total population of the areas to be covered is 17.3 million people. Coverage will be provided using 2G technology. Operators are expected to move equipment from cities where they are installing 3G networks.
Source: Gazeta Mercantil - WDR/Intelecon Regulatory News.
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Malaysia: USP Fund Under-utilized |
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Friday, 11 January 2008 |
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Only about US$ 45.97 million of the US$ 796.8 million Universal Service Provision (USP) fund has been used to provide rural areas with telephony or broadband services.
Energy, Water and Communications Minister Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik said the fund, which was set up in 1998 and is managed by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), has not disbursed more funds because many operators that have proposed projects to be financed by the fund were not planning to use what the government considered appropriate technology to extend rural access.
"What we want is for everyone in the rural areas to get the (communications access) services by providing the transmission stations or the base stations," Lim said.
Lim also said the mission to extend access to remote and under-served areas remains a major objective of government policy. He cited the formulation of cost-effective strategies to deploy communication networks into the sparsely populated rural communities as the main challenge.
"It is my firm belief that this (accomplishing the mission) can only be possible through effective public-private sector partnerships," he added.
The government says the telecom sector has been quite successful in implementing wireless broadband Internet services in flatland areas, which it aimed to cover by 2009, but would require government assistance to finance services in mountainous areas. Source: Bernama Malaysian National News Agency - WDR/Intelecon Regulatory News. |
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Ghana: Vodacom to Up Offer for GT |
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Tuesday, 08 January 2008 |
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After the government of Ghana rejected all bids for a controlling stake in Ghana Telecom (GT), Vodacom is reportedly preparing a new offer. Vodacom’s offer is expected to be over US$ 500 million.
GT was due to have been privatized at the end of 2007. Vodacom, Portugal Telecom and France Telecom all made offers for GT that were rejected by the government. Other interested parties in the 2007 auction included Singapore Telecom. In that auction, none of the twenty or so potential investors expressing interest were willing to pay over US$ 500 million for the stake in GT.
Vodacom is an African GSM mobile operator serving South Africa, Tanzania, Lesotho, Mozambique and DR Congo. Vodacom is the market leader in South Africa.
Ecobank Development Corporation (EDC) and Societe Generale are Ghana’s transactional advisors for the privatization. Source: Ghanaian Chronicle - WDR/Intelecon Regulatory News. |
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Lebanon: Disagreement over telecom privatization |
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Friday, 04 January 2008 |
Lebanon’s Finance Minister Jihad Azour defended the government's policies following criticism of the Cabinet's plan to privatize the telecom sector by Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.
On Wednesday, Nasrallah said that the opposition will block any attempt to privatize the telecom sector. Nasrallah added that the telecom sector generates significant revenues for the government each year and it would be wrong to sell it to the private sector. Privatization plans are part of a reform program that was approved by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
The auction of the country's two mobile networks was scheduled for February 2008. However, Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh now says that the privatization will not take place until after the upcoming presidential election. Opposition leaders have warned that any privatization of the telecom sector must first receive the approval of the Parliament, which has not convened for a regular session since the political crisis started in 2006.
The Finance Minister said that the attacks on the economic policies of the government are politically motivated. "It seems that there is an organized effort to prevent Lebanon from reaping benefits from the oil boom in the region," Azour said.
He added that Syria, Jordan and Egypt are attracting billions of dollars in investment from oil-rich countries, while Lebanon is being deprived of such wealth.
"The privatization of the telecom sector will create more than 50,000 jobs in Lebanon, as more companies will be more inclined to invest in this country once this sector is fully liberalized," he said.
Source: Daily Star - WDR/Intelecon Regulatory News. |
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Morocco: $160 million for Telecommunications in Rural Communities |
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Wednesday, 02 January 2008 |
Morocco’s government has invested over US$ 160 million to provide telecommunications in 9,263 rural communities.
The Telecommunications Regulatory Agency (ANRT) said that the four-year program would provide coverage to two million people. Telecommunications operators will provide phone and Internet services. The National Human Development Initiative (INDH) is financing 50% of the localities.
A total of 311 rural areas will see community access projects in 2008. These projects are worth US$ 5.5 million.
Another program costing US$ 142.9 million will provide 8,600 schools with multimedia facilities, including Internet connections, by 2009. The project, launched in 2005, will serve over 6 million students.
The first phase of the project covered over 1.5 million students, including students in 38 rural areas. The project provided services to 1,900 schools, including 2,050 multimedia classrooms and 31 training centres. The second phase, which was launched in July 2007, will serve 4,000 schools. Of the 4,000 schools, 2,000 are located in rural areas.
Source: Cellular-News from APA-Rabat - WDR/Intelecon Regulatory News. |
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Brazil: 3G licenses sell for more than expected |
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Wednesday, 19 December 2007 |
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Brazil’s 3G license auction resulted in far higher prices than expected, giving the government a significant windfall.
On Tuesday, the first day of the auction, bids totalled over US$ 1.3 billion due to intense competition, telecommunications regulator Anatel said. Vivo, TIM, Oi and Claro each bought a license covering the eastern coastal region, which includes Rio de Janeiro. The auction is set to continue on Wednesday. In all, 44 licenses covering eleven areas are being auctioned.
Before the auction, the head of Anatel Ronaldo Sardenberg said he expected the premium on the licenses to be around 25%. Communications Minister Helio Costa said a 40% premium over the minimum license fee was possible. So far, the licenses have sold for over two and a half times the minimum. The battle for the license in the coastal region was so intense that Claro paid a premium of nearly three times the minimum to beat out Nextel. Source: Agence France-Presse - WDR/Intelecon Regulatory News. |
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Uganda: Reliance wins licenses |
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Tuesday, 18 December 2007 |
Reliance Communications (RCOM) will invest over US$ 200 million to roll out fixed and mobile networks in Uganda.
The company was awarded licenses to become Uganda’s sixth operator. The other operators are MTN, Uganda Telecom, Hits Telecom, Celtel and Warid Telecom. RCOM intends to launch by the third quarter of 2008.
According to sources, RCOM was awarded two licenses, Public Infrastructure Provider (PIP) and Public Service Provider (PSP). The licenses will enable the company to offer mobile, fixed, internet, national and international long distance, WiMAX and WiFi services. RCOM plans to start by offering GSM mobile service.
Uganda is RCOM's first country of operation outside of India. RCOM's earlier efforts to enter international markets failed. RCOM unsuccessfully bid for mobile licences in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Kenya and Qatar, and fixed line licenses in Bahrain and Kenya.
Source: The Economic Times - WDR/Intelecon Regulatory News. |
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Peru: Government working on infrastructure sharing bill |
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Monday, 17 December 2007 |
The government of Peru has sent congress a bill allowing telecommunications operators to share infrastructure in order to increase the sector’s competitiveness.
The bill stipulates that all telecommunications operators should have the right to access each other's infrastructure unless Osiptel, the sector regulator, decides otherwise. The bill would allow operators to charge a fee for sharing infrastructure, which would be determined by Osiptel. Sharing infrastructure is one of the requirements of the country’s free trade agreement with the US.
According to Liliana Ruiz, president of consultancy Alterna Perú, the bill would benefit smaller operators that do not have the financial resources to build their own infrastructure.
"In recent years, many cable TV operators have argued that (incumbent) Telefónica would not rent its infrastructure to them. If the bill is approved, it will become an obligation," Ruiz said.
Source: Business News Americas - WDR/Intelecon Regulatory News.
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Malaysia: Minister to discuss USP Fund |
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Thursday, 13 December 2007 |
The Energy, Water and Communications Minister Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik will discuss Universal Service Provision (USP) Fund contributions with operators to determine how resources are being used in rural areas.
The most recent figures (2006) on the fund’s resources show it is holding US$ 482 million. The USP Fund was initially used to provide telephone service in underserved areas. The government has since expanded its uses to include broadband internet access. There have been claims that the fund was underutilised.
"Tomorrow morning I would call up the operators of the USP Fund to give me a briefing how they are using the fund, which is building up to a huge account," Dr. Lim said.
"I would most certainly like to use it all up before I leave (office)," he added.
On a related topic, Dr. Lim said the E-Bario project for the Kelabit community in Sarawak is experiencing issues with their VSAT equipment. The project, started by a team from Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, is intended as a model for bridging the digital divide between rural and urban areas.
Source: Bernama - WDR/Intelecon Regulatory News. |
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