I am pleased to announce here that Martin Quirke, the British CEO of Azeri GSM operator Bakcell has confirmed his intention to join the panel of speakers at our 5th annual Eurasia Com conference in Istanbul, 31 March & 1 April 2009. Martin and I are discussing how best he can contribute and Martin is considering possible presentation topics. Whatever his choice, I'm sure Martin will offer some useful insights for our delegates from the telecoms service providers of Turkey, the Caspian region and Central Asia.
Now that I am back on the subject of Eurasia Com and the region it serves, this is a good opportunity to attempt to clarify something I was musing about last week. I found myself wondering aloud here about the ownership of Kyrgyz MNO Megacom, which some have suggested is owned by Russian cellco MegaFon. This week, we were told directly by a contact at Megacom that the company is emphatically NOT owned by MegaFon, but that " [we] have... a partnership with Megafon in terms of technical support and roaming."
16 Oct 2008
Prospects for MVNOs in Latin American markets
A Cellular News story this week focused on the prospect of more competitive market conditions in Peru. Proinversión, the country's agency for private investment promotion is apparently planning to auction spectrum for the cities of Lima and Callao and make further spectrum available nationwide. As far as I can make out, this will open the way for a third GSM mobile operator. Currently, Peruvians are offered a choice between Claro (backed by Mexico's America Movil) and Movistar Peru, part of Telefonica's extensive Latin America footprint. These two operators currently have 39.22% and 57.31% of the country's mobile subscriptions, according to the Informa Telecoms & Media WCIS database. The remaining 3.47% are owned by Nextel Peru, an iDEN operator owned by NII Holdings of the USA. Whenever I visit Argentina or Brazil, I can't help noticing that almost every taxi I take is driven by a subscriber of the local Nextel-branded operator. The drivers routinely use the Push-to-talk over Cellular functionality of their handsets to keep in touch with their colleagues. It is my understanding that the various Nextel iDEN operators around Latin America focus their efforts on this and other business applications rather than attempting to compete aggressively for consumer business. I daresay, therefore, that in the Peruvian market, the local Nextel operator would be least seriously affected by the entry of a new GSM player.
While calling contacts around Central Asia and the Caspian region this week (in preparation for our Eurasia Com conference), we have been asking for views on how much more the various markets are likely to become. We keep hearing opinions about the 'optimum' number of mobile operators for any given market. I wonder, therefore, if a third GSM operator in Peru would take the number of competitors up to or beyond the 'optimum' level. I suppose it depends on who you ask.
One opinion, reported in the Cellular News piece, comes from José F. Otero, President of Signals Telecom Consulting and the author of a report on the Peruvian market. Otero notes that "any new mobile operator making its entrance into the Peruvian market will be faced with a variety of difficulties. The most important among these are an estimated 70% mobile telephony penetration rate (by the end of 2008) and the low level of personal income of a large part of the local population. First of all, a potential new operator not only would have to compete against well known brand names like Claro, Movistar and Nextel. It would also have to deploy a network in a rural areas having irregular topography that would increase infrastructure costs in regions having very low levels of disposable income. This means it would take longer to achieve a positive return on the investments made.”
In the article, there is speculation about "a new competitor like the Brazilian operator Oi" potentally looking at entering the Peruvian mobile marketplace via "an MVNO type plan"
When studying the markets across Latin America and attempting to keep track of all the various service providers, the absence of MVNOs has stood out for me. At our recent Americas Com conference in Rio de Janeiro, I heard conflicting view about when/if MVNOs would enter the Brazilian market. Some delegates seemed to feel that the country's regulator, ANATEL, was some way from enabling prospective virtual service providers to compete for business with Brazil's MNOs. However, one high-level executive from one of the operators told me he felt that MVNOs would be making their market debut in Brazil "quite soon."
A spot of Googling this morning revealed that Sixbell Nekotec Solutions, a "a leading Latin American corporation developing value added software and service systems and system integration" has ambitions around entering the Brazilian market as an MVNO targetting low income subscribers.
In the context of this uncertainty in, I was interested to see someone from Claro Brasil (America Movil) asking about the impact of MVNOs on Latin American markets to members of the Americas Com LinkedIn group. The most interesting answer so far comes from a Regulatory Policy official at the Mexican regulator COFETEL, who writes: "There is no specific ruling and/or regulation in Mexico for MVNOs. As a matter of fact, if you are already a carrier that has a license to offer services, you only need a confirmation from the authority to resale unused capacity of other carriers, as reselling for licensees is permitted by the Law. In the case of Maxcom (which is a licensed carrier) they resale unused capacity of Telefonica Movistar. In the case of parties wanting to resale services and that do not have a license, they need to follow a procedure to obtain a permit for reselling. There is a specific ruling for ILD resellers issued in 2004, but the current policy in Cofetel is that permits for any service will be granted if the applicants comply with the law and specific regulations."
My sense is that at the next Americas Com conference (Rio de Janeiro, May 2009), more time will be spent discussing MVNOs - both on stage and offline in the networking sessions. We are feeling bullish here about the prospects for a strong event, having strengthened the team working on the research and speaker acquisition parts of the project. Much of that activity will now be run from our sister company in Sao Paolo. I will be welcoming their team leader here in London next week and ensuring that our Brazilian colleagues have everything they need to make Americas Com the must-attend discussion and networking forum for telco execs from all over Latin America in 2009 and beyond.
While calling contacts around Central Asia and the Caspian region this week (in preparation for our Eurasia Com conference), we have been asking for views on how much more the various markets are likely to become. We keep hearing opinions about the 'optimum' number of mobile operators for any given market. I wonder, therefore, if a third GSM operator in Peru would take the number of competitors up to or beyond the 'optimum' level. I suppose it depends on who you ask.
One opinion, reported in the Cellular News piece, comes from José F. Otero, President of Signals Telecom Consulting and the author of a report on the Peruvian market. Otero notes that "any new mobile operator making its entrance into the Peruvian market will be faced with a variety of difficulties. The most important among these are an estimated 70% mobile telephony penetration rate (by the end of 2008) and the low level of personal income of a large part of the local population. First of all, a potential new operator not only would have to compete against well known brand names like Claro, Movistar and Nextel. It would also have to deploy a network in a rural areas having irregular topography that would increase infrastructure costs in regions having very low levels of disposable income. This means it would take longer to achieve a positive return on the investments made.”
In the article, there is speculation about "a new competitor like the Brazilian operator Oi" potentally looking at entering the Peruvian mobile marketplace via "an MVNO type plan"
When studying the markets across Latin America and attempting to keep track of all the various service providers, the absence of MVNOs has stood out for me. At our recent Americas Com conference in Rio de Janeiro, I heard conflicting view about when/if MVNOs would enter the Brazilian market. Some delegates seemed to feel that the country's regulator, ANATEL, was some way from enabling prospective virtual service providers to compete for business with Brazil's MNOs. However, one high-level executive from one of the operators told me he felt that MVNOs would be making their market debut in Brazil "quite soon."
A spot of Googling this morning revealed that Sixbell Nekotec Solutions, a "a leading Latin American corporation developing value added software and service systems and system integration" has ambitions around entering the Brazilian market as an MVNO targetting low income subscribers.
In the context of this uncertainty in, I was interested to see someone from Claro Brasil (America Movil) asking about the impact of MVNOs on Latin American markets to members of the Americas Com LinkedIn group. The most interesting answer so far comes from a Regulatory Policy official at the Mexican regulator COFETEL, who writes: "There is no specific ruling and/or regulation in Mexico for MVNOs. As a matter of fact, if you are already a carrier that has a license to offer services, you only need a confirmation from the authority to resale unused capacity of other carriers, as reselling for licensees is permitted by the Law. In the case of Maxcom (which is a licensed carrier) they resale unused capacity of Telefonica Movistar. In the case of parties wanting to resale services and that do not have a license, they need to follow a procedure to obtain a permit for reselling. There is a specific ruling for ILD resellers issued in 2004, but the current policy in Cofetel is that permits for any service will be granted if the applicants comply with the law and specific regulations."
My sense is that at the next Americas Com conference (Rio de Janeiro, May 2009), more time will be spent discussing MVNOs - both on stage and offline in the networking sessions. We are feeling bullish here about the prospects for a strong event, having strengthened the team working on the research and speaker acquisition parts of the project. Much of that activity will now be run from our sister company in Sao Paolo. I will be welcoming their team leader here in London next week and ensuring that our Brazilian colleagues have everything they need to make Americas Com the must-attend discussion and networking forum for telco execs from all over Latin America in 2009 and beyond.
14 Oct 2008
Untangling the mysteries of Kyrgyzstan
It seems I was a tad hasty yesterday when getting a little excited at the prospect of having found a new GSM operator in Kyrgyzstan. A Eurasia Com project research respondent had told us about a "new entrant" named "Nur Telecom". A few hours later, I caught up with a colleague whose role here is to watch CIS markets much more closely than I am able to throughout the year. Gemma Bunting, one of our Senior Research Analysts, reminded me of the perils of tracking the Kyrgyz market, notably the matter of how difficult it is for the casual observer to be 100% sure of which operators are owned by which investors.
Over the last couple of years, Gemma and I have spoken on a number of occasions about the curious case of BiTel, which continues to lead the Kyrgyz mobile market, despite losing market share to later entrant MegaCom. Ownership wrangles around BiTel have been hitting the headlines at our Global Mobile Daily and Mobile Communications Europe services for nearly the past three years.
In Dec 2005 we reported that Russian operator Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) had announced the acquisition of a 51% stake in Bitel for US$150 million. Late the same month, we picked up the story of BiTEl HQ being seized by police and having its services cut off. This appeared to be due to a dispute over which organisation had been the legal owner of the 51% sold to MTS. A Russian company, Rezervspetmet was alleging that it owned the 51%. MTS had bought their stake in BiTel from a group known as Alliance Capital. My understanding is that Rezervspetmet eventually prevailed, forcing MTS to write off the investment. By the Spring of 2007 we were reporting that MTS was to be sued for around US$170 million in relation to the failed acquisition in Kyrgyzstan.
By May 2008 we were picking up stories suggesting that Altimo might have been behind the successful attempt to prevent MTS gaining control of BiTel. Altimo is a Russian telecoms investment company which owns significant stakes in both of MTS's major rivals in the mobile space in the Russian Federation and across the CIS. Altimo owns 44% of Vimpelcom and 25.1% of MegaFon. If these allegations don't add up to a sufficiently tangled tale for your taste, I invite you to compare the names and logos of Russia's MegaFon and Kyrgyzstan's MegaCom:
The choice of colours is pretty close. Coincidence? Apparently not. In March last year, we reported that MegaCom's management had descided not to reveal the identity of its backers. However, in the same edition of Mobile Communications Europe, it was noted that MegaFon had admitted that it was "supporting MegaCom in developing its network". "According to MegaCom's [then] General Director, Oleg Primak," ran the story, "whoever is backing MegaCom has already invested US$25 million (€19.1 million) in the development of the network".
By April 2008 the magazine of the American Chamber of Commerce in Kyrgzystan was running an interview with the new MegaCom General Director, a Mr Andrey Silich, a former MegaFon employee. I've heard a number of people refer to Megacom as a MegaFon company/subsidiary.
I can't verify whether that it is really the case, but all of the above is certainly evidence of a strong link. Whatever the true story, it's another case of the Kyrgyzstan market being a bit harder than average to track for us and other industry watchers. Back, then, to the matter of mysterious 'Nur Telecom' (or Nurtelecom?). Gemma pointed out to me that by May of this year, Global Mobile Daily was reporting that BiTel had "changed its name to Nurtelecom and plans to apply for a new license to operate services this year". If that's true, it certainly begs the question of why the BiTel website is still live now. Confused? Me too. When I was trying to figure all of this out yesterday, I asked for help via the Eurasia Com LinkedIn group. The only response? A group member saying he'd heard rumours of Virgin Mobile starting up in Kyrgyzstan. My initial response to that is extremely sceptical. That said, it does seem like this is one market full of surprises.
I hope to learn more by encouraging the country's various players to have a presence at our Eurasia Com conference in Istanbul in the Spring. We'll keep you posted on that.
13 Oct 2008
Discovering new mobile market entrants in Central Asia
As we speak to contacts across the Caspian Sea and Central Asia regions, we see that the competitive landscape in a number of these markets continues to change. A friendly contact in Kyrgyzstan flagged up the imminent market entry of a new GSM player, 'Nur Telecom'. We have also become aware of a CDMA operator which appears to have gone to market with services since we last gave our database of the region's companies a major update: a company named Sotel, using the Nexi brand appears to have built CDMA mobile and WLL networks and services. Finally, a look at the CDMA Development Group website reveals that another WLL player named 'Global Telecom' seems to be getting ready to go to market.
Meanwhile, a research respondent in Tajikistan alerted us of the presence of what he described as a "small company which is offering broadand services over the country's only WiMAX network".
We are digging out information of this sort on a daily basis as we work to create to make the 5th annual version of our regional conference yet more valuable than previous iterations.
Meanwhile, a research respondent in Tajikistan alerted us of the presence of what he described as a "small company which is offering broadand services over the country's only WiMAX network".
We are digging out information of this sort on a daily basis as we work to create to make the 5th annual version of our regional conference yet more valuable than previous iterations.
12 Oct 2008
Eurasia Com 2009: welcome aboad, our first confirmed speaker
We would not ordinarily be confirming speakers for a March/April conference quite as early as this. With Eurasia Com 2009 scheduled for the last day of March and first day of April, my current focus is on catching up with the latest developments in Turkey, the event's host country and in the numerous former Soviet Republics of the Caspian and Central Asia regions, from where we draw a good number of our delegates. We are digesting all that is going on across these markets as well as asking the region's telco executives what our conference must feature in terms of participants, discussion themes and format in order to worthy of their expenditure on travel and time out of the office.
However, of the people I've spoken to thus far as part of this process, one stands out as an especially helpful and insightful research respondent. Cenk Soyak is the General Manager of MVNO/MVNE Effortel's presence in Turkey. Having earlier got the sense from other Turkish research respondents that the country's mobile sector's three hottest topics were MNP, the long-delayed arrival of 3G services and the business case for MVNOs, I was naturally keen to catch up with someone right at the centre of the discussions around the last of these. Cenk keeps a blog (in Turkish) to track what's going on in Turkey's MVNO space and was kind enough to provide an English language summary of many of the themes covered. As well as offering invaluable guidance on this topic, and on other developments in Turkey, I knew right away that Cenk would be an authoritative and lively conference speaker. I am therefore delighted to announce here that he has agreed to join the panel of speakers we will be building for our Eurasia Com conference.
My Russian-speaking colleague currently conducting research covering CIS markets has also had some really useful conversations, many with CxO-level people within a diverse range of telcos - from MNOs to state-owned incumbent wireline carriers. A number of these respondents have indicated a willingness to join the speaker panel in Istanbul, so I anticipate positive developments soon. If your organisation is serious about doing business with the telcos of this part of the world, I am confident we can save you a lot of time and money by putting you among the group we plan to assemble in Turkey in the Spring.
However, of the people I've spoken to thus far as part of this process, one stands out as an especially helpful and insightful research respondent. Cenk Soyak is the General Manager of MVNO/MVNE Effortel's presence in Turkey. Having earlier got the sense from other Turkish research respondents that the country's mobile sector's three hottest topics were MNP, the long-delayed arrival of 3G services and the business case for MVNOs, I was naturally keen to catch up with someone right at the centre of the discussions around the last of these. Cenk keeps a blog (in Turkish) to track what's going on in Turkey's MVNO space and was kind enough to provide an English language summary of many of the themes covered. As well as offering invaluable guidance on this topic, and on other developments in Turkey, I knew right away that Cenk would be an authoritative and lively conference speaker. I am therefore delighted to announce here that he has agreed to join the panel of speakers we will be building for our Eurasia Com conference.
My Russian-speaking colleague currently conducting research covering CIS markets has also had some really useful conversations, many with CxO-level people within a diverse range of telcos - from MNOs to state-owned incumbent wireline carriers. A number of these respondents have indicated a willingness to join the speaker panel in Istanbul, so I anticipate positive developments soon. If your organisation is serious about doing business with the telcos of this part of the world, I am confident we can save you a lot of time and money by putting you among the group we plan to assemble in Turkey in the Spring.
10 Oct 2008
Orange to enter Armenian market?
While conducting our research into developments across the Caspian Sea and Central Asia regions, we've dug out some interesting nuggets of information and opinion from a number of the individual markets concerned. Expect to see all of this reflected in the theme of the discussions at our annual Eurasia Com conference in Istanbul, 31st March & 1st April 2009.
One country we've found particularly fruitful in terms of research respondents is Armenia. One respondent there seems quite confident that the country's mobile market will be joined by a new player in the near future and that the new entrant will be Orange. The France Telecom cellular brand is not a total stranger to former Soviet territory, having established a foothold in Moldova, via the 2007 rebranding of Voxtel. Our friend in Armenia also felt that the entrant is likely to deploy WiMAX in additon to a GSM/W-CDMA network.
Armenia, home to fewer than 3.5 million people, is not a huge market to split between three mobile operators. In the context of the region around it, the country has also been quite well penetrated by the existing two MNOs, one of which is a part of the MTS empire. The other, Armentel (now branded Beeline) is the incumbent fixed-line operator as well as offering mobile services. Beeline, a well-known name across CIS markets, is the brand of the company's new owners, Vimpelcom of Russia.
I wonder, therefore, what any new entrant will be planning in terms of ways to grab market share from these two established players.
One country we've found particularly fruitful in terms of research respondents is Armenia. One respondent there seems quite confident that the country's mobile market will be joined by a new player in the near future and that the new entrant will be Orange. The France Telecom cellular brand is not a total stranger to former Soviet territory, having established a foothold in Moldova, via the 2007 rebranding of Voxtel. Our friend in Armenia also felt that the entrant is likely to deploy WiMAX in additon to a GSM/W-CDMA network.
Armenia, home to fewer than 3.5 million people, is not a huge market to split between three mobile operators. In the context of the region around it, the country has also been quite well penetrated by the existing two MNOs, one of which is a part of the MTS empire. The other, Armentel (now branded Beeline) is the incumbent fixed-line operator as well as offering mobile services. Beeline, a well-known name across CIS markets, is the brand of the company's new owners, Vimpelcom of Russia.
I wonder, therefore, what any new entrant will be planning in terms of ways to grab market share from these two established players.
9 Oct 2008
3G, MNP, MVNOs set to shake up Turkish mobile market?
Preparations are now well underway for our annual Eurasia Com conference, the next iteration of which will take place 31st March & 1st April 2009 at the Mövenpick Hotel in Istanbul. I am pleased that after two years of hosting this event in venues on the fringes of the world's third largest city, we are now able to hold the discussions and networking in a more central location. Next year's venue is in easy striking distance of the Taksim Square shopping and entertainment hub at the heart of Istanbul. This will make life easier for sponsors and exhibitors looking to entertain telco operator clients in the evenings and should boost the number of visitors we get from the many Turkish telco sector companies with headquarters in the city.
The conference is definitely a draw for major Turkish telcos. In the last two years, we've welcomed luminaries such as Tayfun Çataltepe (Chief Strategy/International Expansion Officer at Turkcell), Tulin Karabuk (Chief Investment Officer, Turkcell) and Mehmet Toros (COO, Türk Telekom). However, many of our sponsors support the event not only to reach out to Turkish companies, but also to tap into the high growth CIS markets of the Caspian Sea region and Central Asia. We therefore need to make the event attractive for visitors from these countries. While a pleasant downtown location is perhaps not the most important factor, it can't hurt - so I was happy to shower praise on our operations/venues people for securing this welcome upgrade.
I've been joined this week by a newly-hired Russian-speaking colleague who, as I write this, is on the phone gathering the lastest market intelligence from countries including Azerbijan, Georgia, Armenia and Kazakhstan. Every day, I am handed valuable nuggets of information which will definitely impact on the content and format of the Eurasia Com conference agenda. We are getting a clearer sense than ever before of the challenges and opportunities facing operators in these markets and I think we now know what to do in terms of creating a must-attend event which should gather the region's telcos in ever better numbers.
Meanwhile, I am catching up with contacts in Turkey, with a view to finding out which issues are keeping telco execs in that country awake at night. One of the most interesting conversations I've had this week was with someone at one of Turkey's mobile services distributors. Among the things I was told:
The conference is definitely a draw for major Turkish telcos. In the last two years, we've welcomed luminaries such as Tayfun Çataltepe (Chief Strategy/International Expansion Officer at Turkcell), Tulin Karabuk (Chief Investment Officer, Turkcell) and Mehmet Toros (COO, Türk Telekom). However, many of our sponsors support the event not only to reach out to Turkish companies, but also to tap into the high growth CIS markets of the Caspian Sea region and Central Asia. We therefore need to make the event attractive for visitors from these countries. While a pleasant downtown location is perhaps not the most important factor, it can't hurt - so I was happy to shower praise on our operations/venues people for securing this welcome upgrade.
I've been joined this week by a newly-hired Russian-speaking colleague who, as I write this, is on the phone gathering the lastest market intelligence from countries including Azerbijan, Georgia, Armenia and Kazakhstan. Every day, I am handed valuable nuggets of information which will definitely impact on the content and format of the Eurasia Com conference agenda. We are getting a clearer sense than ever before of the challenges and opportunities facing operators in these markets and I think we now know what to do in terms of creating a must-attend event which should gather the region's telcos in ever better numbers.
Meanwhile, I am catching up with contacts in Turkey, with a view to finding out which issues are keeping telco execs in that country awake at night. One of the most interesting conversations I've had this week was with someone at one of Turkey's mobile services distributors. Among the things I was told:
- Mobile Number Portability will be implemented very soon; my respondent felt that the country's 3rd placed mobile operator is welcoming this as a great opportunity to build market share through more aggressive competition on price.
- Two of Turkey's three MNOs are testing their 3G networks, which my respondent expects to go live in Q2 2009; my respondent predicts that Turkcell will move fastest to get the networking up and running, largely because of an urgent need to address network capacity issues.
- After some buzz of interest in the possible launch of MVNOs, there is now concern that the current tax regime is set to make the business case less attractive that once hoped.
The next time I get the opportunity to write something here, I aim to share a few snippet about what's happening across the wider Eurasia region our conference and exhibition will serve.
29 Sept 2008
Catching up on developments across Eurasia
We will very shortly be getting to work on the arrangements for our 5th annual Eurasia Com conference and exhibition in Turkey. The event will take place 25-26 March 2009, with Istanbul being the host city for the third consecutive year, following on from an initial two years in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
For us, the term 'Eurasia' maps quite closely to TeliaSonera's use of this sometimes ambiguous word. With reference to the company's TeliaSonera Eurasia business area, the giant Scandinavian telco, like us, seems to use the term 'Eurasia' in the geopolitical sense, i.e. as a (neutral) way of referring to the post-Soviet states, in particular the Central Asian republics and the Transcaucasian republics.
So, our Eurasia Com conference, as well as attracting plenty of delegates from the host country's operators (Turkcell, Turk Telekom, Avea etc.), is really designed to offer networking and learning opportunities to execs from the service providers of Caspian states (Armenia, Azerbijan, Georgia) and 'the -stans' of Central Asia: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan. Mongolian delegates have also shown up in pretty good numbers for the last two years.
We find that a number of tech vendors we speak with find this to be an interesting but challenging region. Growth potential is good: mobile markets are some way from reaching European-levels of penetration, 3G networks are not yet ubiquitous, wireline teledensity is quite low. However, my own experiences of developing contacts in this part of the world make me realise that it's not always easy for some companies to explore the possibilities and do business with the operators that are taking advantage of the growth opportunities. So we believe that our event offers a uniquely valuable one-stop shop for vendors looking to make improve their connections in this region.
I am therefore working to catch up with any interesting developments that have taken place across these markets since we last visited Istanbul in April this year. A notable one is TeliaSonera's integration of two previously separate mobile operators in Tajikistan, Indigo and Somoncom. These two companies were among the assets the Scandinavian telco acquired when it bought U.S.-based MCT Corp. back in 2007. MCT also had stakes in Coscom of Uzbekistan (now rebranded UCell) as well as a smaller stake in Roshan of Afghanistan. According to a Global Mobile Daily report last week, Ucell have just launched 3G services in the cities of Tashkent and Samarkand. This leaves Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan as the region's markets that had not reported W-CDMA subscriptions to the World Cellular Information Service by June of this year. Turkey's 3G licensing process has been much delayed so, overall, I expect Eurasia Com to be attended by a lot of delegates who have yet to gain extensive experience working in a market where 3G services are available. If that translates into pent-up demand to learn from colleagues who do have useful experiences and insights to offer, we should see very lively networking and discussions.
For us, the term 'Eurasia' maps quite closely to TeliaSonera's use of this sometimes ambiguous word. With reference to the company's TeliaSonera Eurasia business area, the giant Scandinavian telco, like us, seems to use the term 'Eurasia' in the geopolitical sense, i.e. as a (neutral) way of referring to the post-Soviet states, in particular the Central Asian republics and the Transcaucasian republics.
So, our Eurasia Com conference, as well as attracting plenty of delegates from the host country's operators (Turkcell, Turk Telekom, Avea etc.), is really designed to offer networking and learning opportunities to execs from the service providers of Caspian states (Armenia, Azerbijan, Georgia) and 'the -stans' of Central Asia: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan. Mongolian delegates have also shown up in pretty good numbers for the last two years.
We find that a number of tech vendors we speak with find this to be an interesting but challenging region. Growth potential is good: mobile markets are some way from reaching European-levels of penetration, 3G networks are not yet ubiquitous, wireline teledensity is quite low. However, my own experiences of developing contacts in this part of the world make me realise that it's not always easy for some companies to explore the possibilities and do business with the operators that are taking advantage of the growth opportunities. So we believe that our event offers a uniquely valuable one-stop shop for vendors looking to make improve their connections in this region.
I am therefore working to catch up with any interesting developments that have taken place across these markets since we last visited Istanbul in April this year. A notable one is TeliaSonera's integration of two previously separate mobile operators in Tajikistan, Indigo and Somoncom. These two companies were among the assets the Scandinavian telco acquired when it bought U.S.-based MCT Corp. back in 2007. MCT also had stakes in Coscom of Uzbekistan (now rebranded UCell) as well as a smaller stake in Roshan of Afghanistan. According to a Global Mobile Daily report last week, Ucell have just launched 3G services in the cities of Tashkent and Samarkand. This leaves Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan as the region's markets that had not reported W-CDMA subscriptions to the World Cellular Information Service by June of this year. Turkey's 3G licensing process has been much delayed so, overall, I expect Eurasia Com to be attended by a lot of delegates who have yet to gain extensive experience working in a market where 3G services are available. If that translates into pent-up demand to learn from colleagues who do have useful experiences and insights to offer, we should see very lively networking and discussions.
25 Sept 2008
Middle East face European competitors at home and go hunting for new markets worldwide
I expect the discussions and the audience profile at our annual GSM>3G Middle East event in Dubai to reflect the flow of strategic telecoms investment monies into and out of the Gulf region.
Vodafone is entering the Qatari market and is set to offer both mobile and fixed-line services. Turkcell has been interested in extending its footprint into the Middle East for some time. After an abortive attempt to enter the Iranian market in 2005-06, the Turkish MNO has more recently been rumoured to have an interest in Syria. Both of these companies are represented at CxO level at our conference.
Telcos headquartered in the Middle East, meanwhile, have been shopping for opportunities in emerging markets in other regions. For example, the African mobile scene is now dotted with subsidiaries of Zain, Etisalat and Comium.
The next target looks to be India. Telecoms.com yesterday reported Etisalat's agreement to buy 45% of Indian mobile operator Swan Telecom for $900m in cash, with the UAE telco's Chairman Mohammad Hassan Omran, commenting: "Our entry in India, one of the largest and fastest growing mobile markets in the world today, marks an acceleration of our expansion strategy and brings to us an opportunity which matches the scale of our ambitions."
Etisalat, leading sponsor of our December conference and exhibition in Dubai, will doubtless field many questions from participants about this and other elements of the company's international expansion strategy.
Vodafone is entering the Qatari market and is set to offer both mobile and fixed-line services. Turkcell has been interested in extending its footprint into the Middle East for some time. After an abortive attempt to enter the Iranian market in 2005-06, the Turkish MNO has more recently been rumoured to have an interest in Syria. Both of these companies are represented at CxO level at our conference.
Telcos headquartered in the Middle East, meanwhile, have been shopping for opportunities in emerging markets in other regions. For example, the African mobile scene is now dotted with subsidiaries of Zain, Etisalat and Comium.
The next target looks to be India. Telecoms.com yesterday reported Etisalat's agreement to buy 45% of Indian mobile operator Swan Telecom for $900m in cash, with the UAE telco's Chairman Mohammad Hassan Omran, commenting: "Our entry in India, one of the largest and fastest growing mobile markets in the world today, marks an acceleration of our expansion strategy and brings to us an opportunity which matches the scale of our ambitions."
Etisalat, leading sponsor of our December conference and exhibition in Dubai, will doubtless field many questions from participants about this and other elements of the company's international expansion strategy.
24 Sept 2008
Etisalat to do battle with Zain in Iraq?
Much as Iraq is rarely out of the news, the country is rarely very far from my thoughts at the moment as we gear up for our GSM>3G Middle East event in Dubai this December.
I was prompted to think again about Iraq this morning by a call confirming a meeting tomorrow with Bob Fonow, now working with broadband service provider Trivon, which operates under the Virgin Connect brand in Russia. Bob has lately been an enthusiastic and high-value speaker at a number of Informa Telecoms & Media conferences, including some of our Com World Series gatherings. In a previous role, Bob was a Senior U.S. State Department official responsible for telecommunications reconstruction in Iraq, acting as a Senior Adviser to the Minister of Communications and Chief Executive of the Communications and Media Commission. In this role, Bob managed a staff of US State Dept technical experts and was responsible for funding decisions and program management of US funded telecom programs. Following that assignment, Bob was hired to mediate a dispute between the Iraqi shareholders of Zain Iraq and Zain's executive management in Kuwait concerning the provision of physical security for Zain's combined MTC Atheer and Iraqna GSM networks.
I am looking forward to learning a lot from Bob tomorrow. I think my questions will focus on two areas. Firstly, as my thoughts turn to our 2009 Russia & CIS Com conference, I'll be keen to get some fresh insights on the Russian broadband market and the currently high level of hype about the prospects for WiMAX in Russia. Secondly, ahead of the Dubai event, I'll be keen to get Bob's thoughts on the potential and the challenges of the Iraqi market. It will be good to get a solid briefing before meeting the several high-level execs who will be representing Iraqi operators on the panel of speakers in Dubai. These include Suleiman Lamaani the CEO of Itisaluna (an emerging nationwide operator providing fixed-line voice services, broadband, and VAS via CDMA 1x-EV-DO Rev. A) and CxOs from GSM operators Korek Telecom and Asiacell. Looking ahead to the future development of our event, it is my theory that vendor interest may become very sharply focused on under-connected, under-penetrated markets such as Iraq and Iran, whose incumbent mobile operator MCI will be represented at this year's conference by CEO Vahid Sadoughi. This may become a matter of urgency for network tech vendors as the oil-rich Gulf states' mobile markets all reach saturation point and 3G networks there achieve wide coverage.
Certainly, the Iraqi market is already a priority for giant rival Middle Eastern telcos. Zain is already present and I read today in a Cellular news story the UAE-based Etisalat is reported to be in talks to acquire an Iraqi mobile operator by the end of this year. The story quotes Etisalat COO Ahmad Julfar: "Iraq has a lot of potential because of the unavailability of fixed-line telephones because of war conditions."
Given the strong interest in Iraq from around and beyond the region, I am really glad that we've managed to get the Iraqi market so well represented on our panel of speaker for the Dubai show.
I was prompted to think again about Iraq this morning by a call confirming a meeting tomorrow with Bob Fonow, now working with broadband service provider Trivon, which operates under the Virgin Connect brand in Russia. Bob has lately been an enthusiastic and high-value speaker at a number of Informa Telecoms & Media conferences, including some of our Com World Series gatherings. In a previous role, Bob was a Senior U.S. State Department official responsible for telecommunications reconstruction in Iraq, acting as a Senior Adviser to the Minister of Communications and Chief Executive of the Communications and Media Commission. In this role, Bob managed a staff of US State Dept technical experts and was responsible for funding decisions and program management of US funded telecom programs. Following that assignment, Bob was hired to mediate a dispute between the Iraqi shareholders of Zain Iraq and Zain's executive management in Kuwait concerning the provision of physical security for Zain's combined MTC Atheer and Iraqna GSM networks.
I am looking forward to learning a lot from Bob tomorrow. I think my questions will focus on two areas. Firstly, as my thoughts turn to our 2009 Russia & CIS Com conference, I'll be keen to get some fresh insights on the Russian broadband market and the currently high level of hype about the prospects for WiMAX in Russia. Secondly, ahead of the Dubai event, I'll be keen to get Bob's thoughts on the potential and the challenges of the Iraqi market. It will be good to get a solid briefing before meeting the several high-level execs who will be representing Iraqi operators on the panel of speakers in Dubai. These include Suleiman Lamaani the CEO of Itisaluna (an emerging nationwide operator providing fixed-line voice services, broadband, and VAS via CDMA 1x-EV-DO Rev. A) and CxOs from GSM operators Korek Telecom and Asiacell. Looking ahead to the future development of our event, it is my theory that vendor interest may become very sharply focused on under-connected, under-penetrated markets such as Iraq and Iran, whose incumbent mobile operator MCI will be represented at this year's conference by CEO Vahid Sadoughi. This may become a matter of urgency for network tech vendors as the oil-rich Gulf states' mobile markets all reach saturation point and 3G networks there achieve wide coverage.
Certainly, the Iraqi market is already a priority for giant rival Middle Eastern telcos. Zain is already present and I read today in a Cellular news story the UAE-based Etisalat is reported to be in talks to acquire an Iraqi mobile operator by the end of this year. The story quotes Etisalat COO Ahmad Julfar: "Iraq has a lot of potential because of the unavailability of fixed-line telephones because of war conditions."
Given the strong interest in Iraq from around and beyond the region, I am really glad that we've managed to get the Iraqi market so well represented on our panel of speaker for the Dubai show.
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