MBC Launches Arabic Drama Channel, Inks Exclusive Multi-Platform Deal With MTVNI

MBC, the leading pan-Arab free-to-air satellite broadcasting company, expects its new Arabic language TV Drama channel to attract millions of viewers. The channel, targeted to family, will start broadcasting on Saturday and will air series from Egypt, GCC and the Levant. The launch of MBC Drama marks the 10^th channel and the 20^th anniversary of MBC group according to Mazen Hayek, the official spokesman and group director of PR and commercial at the company.

In addition, MBC Group has also signed an exclusive multi-platform deal with MTV Network International, a division of Viacom. Under the agreement, MTVNI will grant the exclusive rights to develop consumer product programmes around hit Nickelodeon properties, Dora the Explorer, SpongeBob SquarePants and Go, Diego, Go! in the Middle East. The key categories include home furnishing, stationery, apparel, toys, publishing, personal care and fashion accessories and product is expected to roll out from early 2011, according to the company statement.

Tunisiana Sold To Qtel, Princesse Holding For $1.2 Billion

Orascom Telecom has sold the other half of Tunisiana to Wataniya, Qatar Telecom’s Kuwaiti unit; for a price of $1.2 billion. Wataniya, which already owned 50% of Tunisiana, bought the remaining stake in a consortium led by Princesse Holding of Tunisia, Qtel said in a statement on Monday: “The acquisition is in line with the Qtel Group’s vision … and with our strategy of active portfolio development, through which we may seek to increase our ownership in well performing assets, with further growth potential… We are confident that with the support and active participation of Princesse Holding, we will be able to take Tunisiana to the next stage of its development”, Qtel’s Chairman Sheikh Abdullah al-Thani said in the statement.

Wataniya expects to close the deal in early January 2011 and will finance its portion through a mixture of cash and debt.

STC Expresses Interest For Syria’s Third Mobile Licence

Saudi Telecom (STC) announced on the Saudi bourse website its interest in bidding for the third mobile licence in Syria. Syria tendered the licence back in September and sat Nov 14^th as the deadline for submitting a prequalification application. Among other interested parties is Turkey’s Turkcell and Kuwait’s Zain.

STC is facing increasing competition from Mobily and Zain in its home market which is the biggest Arab economy. However, an industry source has told Reuters that STC could be among the strongest contenders, especially after ties between the Damascus government and Riyadh improved last year.

Syria is one of the few countries in the Middle East with low mobile penetration with a population of more than 20 million people and about 9 million mobile phone users according to Dataxis Intelligence.

Wataniya Mobile Plans To Raise $50 Million From IPO

Wataniya Palestine Mobile Telecommunications Public Shareholding Co., known as Wataniya Mobile, plans to raise $50.3 million by selling 15 percent of its shares in an initial public offering, reported Bloomberg. The operator has appointed HSBC Bank Middle East Ltd as the global coordinator and bookrunner for the IPO while Arab Bank Group will be the regional coordinator.

Bassam Hannoun, CEO, said: “There is still a lot of potential for growth in our home market. That’s why we’ve chosen to sell shares now”.

Wataniya Mobile is the second mobile phone company in the Palestinian territories. The operator started operations in November 2009 and has reached more than 300,000 from 110,000, Hannoun said. The company increased its market share to 19.2 percent at the end of third quarter from 9.3 percent in the fourth quarter of last year.

Zain Launches Mobile TV for iPhone Users

Zain Kuweit has announced that iPhone users can now access Mobile TV services on their devices.

Through this service, which was already available to other 3G-mobile phone users, prepaid & postpaid customers can view live selected television channels on their handsets.

According to Zain, these TV channels include Al-Watan, Al-Watan Plus, Al-Rai, Kuwait Sports Channel, Gulf, and Rotana Channel collection.

Earlier this month, Zain announced its Group consolidated financial results for the first nine months, ending 30 September 2010. For the Jan-Sept. period, the Zain Group generated consolidated revenues of KWD 1.01 billion (US$ 3.5 billion), an increase of 8.4% compared to the same period of 2009. The company’s consolidated EBITDA reached KWD 448 million (US$ 1.55 billion) reflecting an EBITDA margin of 44% with EBIT reaching KWD 324 million (US$ 1.12 billion). Net Income soared 411% to reach KWD 976 million (US$ 3.37 billion).

Etisalat First to deploy femtocells in UAE

Etisalat, the Middle East’s leading telecom service provider, announced the deployment of the first femtocell live project in the UAE provided by Alcatel-Lucent. Etisalat’s customers will not only benefit from improved coverage but will also enjoy increased data capacity and uninterrupted, high-quality mobile connectivity according to Khalifa Al Shamsi, Sr. VP of Marketing at Etisalat: “Etisalat has always been an innovator in bringing technologies that better serve its customers. This technology has the potential to support increased growth in the usage and consumption of data services and can play a crucial role in satisfying the explosive growth of mobile broadband usage in the UAE”, he said.

Amr El Leithy, President of Alcatel-Lucent’s business in the Middle East and Africa added: “This decision reinforces Alcatel-Lucent’s leading position in the small cell field and confirms our ability to help major service operators to deal with one of the biggest trends in wireless communications, extending indoor mobile coverage to in-building environments”.

VimpelCom & Egypt’s Sawiris Agree To Combine Phone Operations

Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris and VimpelCom, Russia’s second largest mobile phone operator, have signed an agreement to combine their phone assets. The transaction, which is valued at $6.5 billion, will create the fifth largest mobile telecom carrier by subscribers. Under the agreement, VimpelCom will own 100% of Wind Telecomunicazioni S.p.A. and 51.7% of Orascom Telecom Holding S.A.E while Weather shareholders will get 20% of new VimpelCom shares valued at $4.7 billion at current prices and $1.8 billion in cash.

VimpelCom CEO Alexander Izosimov said: “The next growth in telecoms will come from emerging markets… The consolidation is just beginning”.

Sawiris added: “Minority shareholders in Orascom Telecom will benefit from the synergies created by the combination of the two entities, especially in the area of procurement and by the overall strengthening and de-risking of the Orascom Telecom balance sheet”.

After the deal, Telenor will control 31.7% of CimpelCom, Alfa Altimo unit will hold 31.4% and minority shareholders will represent 17%.

The agreement excludes Orascom’s operations in Egypt and North Korea.

Jordan: Second 3G Operator To Enter The Market In Q1 2011

In an interview with Zawya Dow Jones, Marwan Juma, Minister of information and communication technology in Jordan, said that the country expects its second 3G operator to enter the market as early as the first quarter of 2011: “I expect it within the first quarter of 2011. Once you see competition on 3G like anything else…prices will go down, service will improve and we will see more impact on penetration”, he said. In addition, Juma expects 50% broadband penetration by the end of 2011: “We have targets in terms of users to reach 50% by the end of next year [2011]. Today we have 37% penetration,” he said. “Some say the 50% is a bit too ambitious but I say so be it. Raise the bar”, he said.

Jordan is also looking to build more information cables especially after the setting up of JADI link, the fiber optic network that was launched in July and links Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria and Turkey. Juma confirms that there are now talks for a second cable that involves the UAE: “There’s a second commercial that is about to come into play. They are in serious level of discussion. Maybe before year-end they can make an announcement… The more these cables come in, the price and capacity will go down and this will reflect on end users”, he said.

Orange Jordan is currently the only 3G operator in the country. Orange Jordan won its 3G licence in August 2009 and launched its service in early 2010. Other telecom companies in Jordan include: Zain Jordan and Umniah Mobile Company.

Qatar Telecom May Buy Zain’s Saudi Arabia Unit

Etisalat has stakes in two operators in Saudi Arabia, Mobily and Zain Saudi Arabia. This situation is a problem for the market and the competition as a merger would violate merger guidelines in Saudi Arabia’s Telecom act, so the comapny decided to sell its 25% share in Zain Saudi Arabia.

Two bidders are known, the African mobile group MTN and Qatar Telecom. Qtel could acquire Zain Saudi Arabia to expand its operations in the region. This deal would be worth $925 million with a 25pc for a controlling stake. Zain Saudi Arabia plans to raise its stake to 60pc by restructuring its capital and cutting accumulated losses.

According to Dataxis Intelligence, in June 2010 Mobiliy had 18.4 million mobile subscribers and Zain SA had 6.906 million subscribers which represents 52% of the mobile market in Saudi Arabia, a market led by STC with 47% market share (22.5 million subcribers)

Zain Likely To Sell 46% Stake To Etisalat Today

According to recent reports, Zain shareholders may approve a bid from Etisalat for 46% stake for a price of about $10.5 billion. A person familiar with the deal said Zain shareholders are preparing to send a letter of acceptance today.

Etisalat confirmed yesterday that it had made a “conditional offer” for a stake in Zain. The transaction is expected to boost Etisalat’s presence in the Middle East and extend its reach to countries where Zain operates like Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq… etc.

Nasser Al-Kharafi, Chairman of Kuwait’s Kharafi Group the second largest shareholder in Zain with about 13%, told Al-Qabas newspaper that Etisalat’s offer is “suitable and good for both parties”.

Etisalat is active in more 18 countries across the Middle East, Africa and Asia and serves more than 100 million customers. The UAE accounts for 86% of Etisalat’s sales.

Zain had sold most of its African assets to India’s Bharti Airtel for $9 billion. Its largest shareholder is Kuwait Investment Authority, the country sovereign wealth fund, with 24.6%.