Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) has announced that it intends to buy 75% of a company which holds wireless spectrum suitable for WiMAX-based broadband services, reports Lanka Business Online. The incumbent telco said it would pay USD1 million for a controlling stake in Sky Network, a unit of the European-based Lycatel Group. ‘The [SLT] board resorted to this option, as a licence for WiMAX operation from the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission has seen inordinate delays,’ SLT said in a stock exchange filing, adding that ‘by teaming up with Sky Network, SLT could leverage on its islandwide infrastructure for the provisioning of wireless broadband applications such as IPTV, video on demand, educational services, etc, to the mass market.’ SLT currently offers broadband services based on ADSL technology.

Greek alternative fixed line and broadband operator Tellas (soon to be Wind Hellas), which was recently acquired by Egyptian group Weather Investments, has announced details of a new business plan including short-term investment of EUR70 million (USD108 million) in developing network infrastructure and full-service telecoms packages combining fixed line and mobile telephony and internet access. The Greek firm also told a press conference that a new commercial strategy and package pricing will be unveiled by next month, and indicated that it plans to expand its offerings abroad in the near future. In April 2007 Weather Investments, the holding vehicle of Egyptian telecoms tycoon Naguib Sawiris, completed the purchase of Greek cellco TIM Hellas for a total of EUR3.4 billion, including subsidiary Q-Telecom, before rebranding the company Wind Hellas. Weather (via its Italian-based Wind unit) went on to up its 50% share in Tellas to 100% and has been busy integrating the fixed and mobile units, including the launch of fixed telephony and broadband internet access packages by Wind Hellas last October.

Venezuela had a total of 24.4 million mobile subscribers at the end of March 2008, up by 24.5% compared with 19.6 million a year earlier, giving the country a cellular penetration rate of 88.5%, according to telecoms regulator Conatel. The watchdog also reported that total mobile traffic across the networks of the three national cellcos Movilnet, Movistar and Digitel increased by 33.5% year-on-year in the first quarter.

Usaha Tegas, the parent group of Malaysian telco Maxis, has raised its stake in Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) to 42%, via its subsidiary Global Telecommunications Holdings (GTH). The Malaysian group bought a 35.2% stake in SLT for USD297 million last month from Japan’s NTT, and has raised its holding through a mandatory share offer. SLT’s largest shareholder, the Sri Lankan government, previously told GTH that it and its related institutions would not take part in the offer and would collectively continue to exert control over the national PTO by holding over 50% of its issued and paid-up share capital. The government directly owns a 49.5% stake in SLT, registered to the Treasury Secretary, with additional stakes held by two other state-owned institutions, NSB (0.71%) and EPF (1.02%), giving the authorities a total interest of 51.23%. Global Telecommunications Holdings is a Netherlands Antilles-based firm, itself wholly owned by Global Communications Investments, which in turn is wholly owned by Usaha Tegas, a Malaysian conglomerate involved in telecoms, broadcasting and media, leisure, entertainment and property, with revenues of USD168.1 billion in 2007.

German fixed network operator Versatel has reported its results for the first three months of 2008. Revenues were up 6.3% year-on-year to EUR185.2 million (USD286.4 million), while adjusted EBITDA decreased 12.6% year-on-year to EUR47.3 million, due to tough competition and the associated decline in prices. Consolidated net loss widened almost four-fold compared to a year earlier, from EUR7.9 million in 1Q 2007 to EUR29.9 million in 1Q 2008. Some EUR11.5 million of this comprised provisions for expenditure in connection with Versatel’s current efficiency programme; other factors contributing to the loss included a higher depreciation charge due to the network expansion in 2007, and taxation.

Operationally, Versatel added 30,000 residential DSL customers during the period January to March 2008, reaching a total of 666,000 on 31 March. The customer growth fuelled year-on-year residential revenue growth of 1.6% to EUR89.6 million in the quarter, despite a lower average revenue per user (ARPU). However, the business division fared less well, seeing revenues drop by 7% yearly to EUR49.3 million, caused by a steep decline in prices that could not be offset by an increase in new orders. Versatel nonetheless expects growth in business revenues in the next few months as contracts secured at the end of 2007 start to bear fruit. Versatel’s best performing division was its wholesale business, where first-quarter revenue grew by more than 40% year-on-year to EUR46.4 million

Versatel’s outlook for the full year 2008 is an increase of between 100,000 and 120,000 DSL customers, total revenues of EUR730 million to EUR740 million, and adjusted EBITDA of at least EUR200 million.

Former incumbent telco Telecom Argentina (TA) expects total investment this year to reach USD530 million, reports BNamericas, quoting marketing manager Marcelo Ozino Caligaris. The officer said that 51% of the CAPEX will be directed to mobile operations while the other 49% will be earmarked for fixed telephony services. Last year, TA spent ARS1.44 billion (USD453 million) in its various business segments. According to Caligaris, the company expects to see higher monthly average revenue per user (ARPU) this year in the fixed line arena due to the launch of new value-added services (VAS), including fixed SMS and videocalls.

Commenting on a possible launch of IPTV services, the executive said that during 2008, TA expects to conduct internal tests. Current regulations do not allow telecoms operators to offer broadcasting services. It is known that both TA and fellow former incumbent Telefonica de Argentina have long wanted to launch triple-play services to compete with cablecos such as Multicanal and Cablevision, which are permitted to offer broadband and fixed telephony products over their cable infrastructure.

Caligaris added that Telecom is studying the launch of WiMAX technology to offer services in rural areas and closed communities. However, there are no concrete plans on this issue at present.

Russia’s third-largest mobile operator MegaFon said it was prepared to invest around USD4.6 billion to build a GSM network in Iran, at the opening of its representative office in the Middle East state yesterday, reports Reuters. MegaFon previously announced that it planned to establish a subsidiary in Iran as a launch pad to expand in the Middle East. The cellco, whose owners include TeliaSonera, Telecominvest and Alfa/Altimo, operates across Russia but currently has just one international subsidiary, in Tajikistan.

The Italian internet service provider Tiscali has reported lower first-quarter net losses and improved revenues on the back of growth in its ADSL and voice telephony businesses in Italy and the UK. Net losses for the first three months of the year narrowed 12% to EUR37.5 million (USD58 million), while revenues were up 43% year-on-year at EUR276.4 million. Tiscali added more than half a million high speed internet customers in the twelve months to the end of March, lifting its total subscriber base to 2.5 million.

UK-based Virgin Group is preparing to announce a WiMAX wireless broadband partnership in Russia. A report from Russian Business says that Virgin is setting up a venture with local wireless ISP Trivon, in which Virgin has a stake. WiMAX networks will be deployed in 30 Russian cities, the report suggests.

Portuguese alternative telco Sonaecom has narrowed its net loss in the first three months of the year to EUR5.5 million (USD8.5 million), from EUR6.0 million in the year-ago period. Revenues were up 19.5% year-on-year at EUR237.7 million, helped by last year’s acquisition of rival operators Tele2 Portugal and Oni. Pro forma sales growth was around 6%. Revenues from mobile division Optimus rose 6.2% to EUR151.6 million, while the wireline business saw sales jump 39.2% to EUR75.2 million, again due to the acquisitions. Optimus claimed 2.29 million active customers at the end of March, up from 2.12 million a year before.

The initial public offering (IPO) of shares in Turkey’s dominant fixed line operator, Turk Telekom, has been priced at TRY4.6 (USD3.64) a share, near the top of its initial range. The sale of a 15% stake in the telco will raise around TRY2.42 billion for state coffers, Reuters reports. An over-allotment option was not used, and with the main Istanbul index having dropped 24% this year, the amount raised was well below the government’s original forecast of TRY3.9 billion. Turk Telekom shares will start trading on the Istanbul Stock Exchange on 15 May.

The third largest US cellular operator, Sprint Nextel, has had another poor quarter, with net losses more than doubling and subscriber numbers declining by almost 1.1 million. The firm has been struggling over recent quarters as users defect to rival networks; 1.07 million of Sprint’s most lucrative customers – those on post-paid contracts – migrated to other carriers in the first three months of this year, while 200,000 pre-paid users also shifted providers. There were minor subscriber gains via the cellco’s wholesale and affiliate operations, but the net result was a loss of 1.087 million customers over a three-month period, taking the total customer base down to 52.8 million. This was reflected in Sprint’s financial performance, with net losses growing from USD211 million in Q1 2007 to USD505 million in the most recent period, though there was a one-off pre-tax charge of USD317 million due to merger and integration costs. Revenues dropped 8% to USD9.33 billion.

CEO Dan Hesse says the company is expecting only a slight recovery in the second quarter performance: ‘Improving the customer experience and being more selective about the customers we acquire should improve churn, but we expect that post-paid subscriber losses will improve only marginally from first-quarter levels.’

A shake-up in the Russian Cabinet could signal a push towards privatisation for state telecoms holding company Svyazinvest. The sale of the government’s remaining stake in Svyazinvest has been on the cards for almost a decade but there has been little tangible progress. Outgoing Communications Minister Leonid Reiman had given little away about the future of the state telecoms group, which has interests in all of the country’s seven mega-regional fixed line telcos plus the dominant long-distance operator Rostelecom. Reiman has been replaced by Igor Shegolev, previously head of the RF President Protocol, CNews reports.

Southeast Asia’s largest telephone company Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel) added a record 13.8 million net new mobile subscribers in its fiscal fourth quarter to 31 March, led by high take-up in India. SingTel reported a total of 185.3 million cellular users on a non-proportionate basis in eight markets (Australia, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand) by the start of April, with Indian venture Bharti Airtel, in which SingTel has a 31% stake, adding 6.8 million users in the quarter to maintain its leading position ahead of second-placed Reliance Communications. In Indonesia, SingTel’s 35% owned affiliate PT Telekomunikasi Selular (Telkomsel) gained 3.45 million customers in the January-March period while wholly owned Australian subsidiary SingTel Optus attracted 135,000 net new users. In its home market SingTel said it added 244,000 customers, raising the total to 2.57 million; it had 859,000 3G users at the same date. Elsewhere, AIS of Thailand reported a 19% year-on-year rise in subscribers to 25.09 million customers; Globe Telecom (Philippines) boosted its user base by 26% y-o-y to 21.27 million; Pakistan’s Warid Telecom reported 14.4 million mobile subscribers and PBTL in Bangladesh had 1.56 million customers by the end of March this year. SingTel is scheduled to report fiscal fourth-quarter earnings tomorrow.

UK-based Vodafone Group is reported to be holding talks with the Ghanaian government about acquiring a majority stake in the country’s leading telecoms group Ghana Telecom (GT) as the mobile giant looks to increase its presence on the African continent. The development follows in the wake of Vodafone’s decision not to pursue a possible multi-billion bid for South Africa’s MTN Group. Vodafone chief executive Arun Sarin in understood to be considering his company’s future investments opportunities on a country-by-country basis, and Ghana could possibly be next.

In a separate story, Zain’s Philip Sowah has told Rancard Mobility that Zain intends to re-brand WESTEL Ghana and re-launch as Zain in the third quarter of this year. He did not provide specifics but did say that the rebranding exercise would be carried out over the summer and that Zain was also considering plans to roll out EDGE and/or 3G services. Sowah said: ‘We’re expecting to have a substantial proportion of the country covered and we will not have the levels of congestion of our competitors. We’re both building in significant capacity to offer higher service levels and for a higher level of customers.’ On 14 December 2007 the Ghanaian government finally completed the agreement to allow Zain’s Celtel International unit to take control of WESTEL.