Vodafone is exploring investment opportunities in Egypt and looking to expand its business plans in the field of outsourcing, according to a statement released after a meeting between Egypt’s Minister of Communication and Information Technology, Yasser ElKady, and Vodafone Group Plc. Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer, Nick Read.
During Mobile World Congress, Sudatel Telecom Group and leading pan-African telecoms group Liquid Telecom, a subsidiary of Econet Global, signed a memorandum of understanding to build new FTTH networks across Sudan.
South Sudan-based mobile operator Vivacell, owned by Lebanon's Fattouch Investment Group, has had its license suspended effective March 20, 2018, in the African country, for failing to comply with regulations, according to the head of South Sudan's National Communications Authority.
ZTE Corporation, a major international provider of telecommunications, enterprise and consumer technology solutions for the Mobile Internet, reached an agreement on strategic cooperation with MEA's leading operator MTN Group. Both sides signed the Memorandum of Understanding related to collaboration on 5G network architectures during Mobile World Congress 2018 in Barcelona.
Sparkle, the international service arm of Italy's TIM Group, and Positive Technologies, a global provider of enterprise security solutions, announced the launch of Signalling Protection Suite, a new and full suite of security services for signaling connectivity.
UAE telecom operator Etisalat's former Nigerian operation, rebranded as 9mobile, will be purchased for $500 million by investment firm Teleology Holdings. An auction was held for the troubled operator, which became a new brand in the Nigerian telecom market in mid-2017 after Etisalat pulled out of the country.
The minister of communications of Ghana, Ursula Owusu Ekuful, announced the issuing of a second 4G spectrum license in the country, via auction, by June 2018 by the National Communications Authority. The first license was granted to MTN in December 2015 after paying 67.5 million dollars for a fifteen-year license in 800 MHz spectrum band.
The Benin telecommunications industry regulatory authority for electronic communications and post (ARCEP) has withdrawn the license of the Nigerian mobile operator Globacom’s subsidiary after a conflict occurred regarding the renewal conditions. The regulatory authority took this decision after the Nigerian operator refused to accept the conditions proposed by the government.
MTN aims to relaunch its financial services in South Africa after abandoning this business in September 2016 because of the “lack of commercial viability”. MTN CEO Rob Shuter announced that the operator is developing new products such as loan offers, investments products and insurance in order to cater to its clients’ needs and expand its customers’ base in South Africa.
Kenya’s regulatory authority has abandoned its proposal to split Safaricom into two separate entities, one focused on telecoms and the other one on financial services. The break-up plan was initially suggested in February 2017 following the regulator’s plan to reinforce competition in the sector.
