Telecoms & ITC

Qatar leads Gulf region on broadband penetration

Broadband penetration in Qatar is the best in the Gulf region with 44 percent of households covered, Euromonitor International said. In a new country briefing report, it said the Gulf state's fixed line market's growth was being driven by internet usage. The study said 44.5 percent of Qatari households possessed a broadband-enabled computer by the end of 2009, up from just under seven percent in 2004. Qatar was well ahead of its Gulf neighbors on broadband penetration in 2009, the report added, with Kuwait and Bahrain on 26 percent, the UAE on 18 percent and Saudi Arabia (8 percent). Qatar has also seen a significant growth in telephone lines over the past five years, rising from 191,000 in 2004 to 274,600 last year. Euromonitor International also said Facebook was the fourth most popular website in Qatar, with 160,000 active users in August, according to data supplied by the social networking website.

HCL signs mega outsourcing deal with Saudi's Al-Majdouie Group

IT services firm HCL Technologies said it has signed a "mega" outsourcing agreement with Saudi Arabia's Al Majdouie Group to provide end-to-end services for a period of seven years for an undisclosed sum. The scope of the deal includes developing infrastructure, implementing Oracle's e-business suite with over 70 modules and managing and running them; and commissioning and managing a data centre and disaster recovery services, HCL said in a statement. HCL said its end-to-end IT services would enable the Al Majdouie Group, having interests in the transportation, steel, automobiles, real estate and travel businesses, to streamline business processes and integrate seamlessly across all group companies. The IT services firm said it would require to blend all its outsourcing strengths -- applications and infrastructure capabilities, industry knowledge and expertise -- to help Al Majdouie achieve fundamental transformation at the enterprise level.

Egypt to launch Nilesat 201 in August

In preparation for launching the new Egyptian satellite Nilesat 201 in August, the satellite will undergo all technical tests in the South American city Coro, the Nilesat managing director for technical affairs, Salah Hamzah, said. The tests will take place on Arianespaces "Ariane 5" rocket. The satellite was built by Thales Alenia Space Arianespace. Nilesat-201 will enable the Egyptian satellite operator Nilesat to deliver digital Direct-to-Home (DTH) TV and radio broadcasting, along with high-speed data transmission services, to North Africa and the Middle East. Utilizing a Spacebus 4000B2 platform, this relay platform is equipped with 24 Ku-band and 4 Ka-band transponders. Its launch mass will be approximately 3,200 kg., and after its deployment by Ariane 5, the satellite will be positioned at an orbital slot of 7 degrees West longitude for a 15-year design operating lifetime.

Egypt aims at US$10 billion a year for offshoring

Egypt is seeking more support from firms such as IBM to improve technology teaching at its schools so it can expand an offshoring industry that could generate US$10 billion a year by 2020, a senior official said. Offshored operations, such as technical support and call centers, now bring in US$1 billion a year for Egypt, which wants to win a bigger slice of the global business as shrinking populations and high costs in Europe encourage a shift abroad. But despite some success, foreign investors often complain of a skills gap in Egypt and say they have to pay a premium to secure recruits with the right technical and language skills. "If you look at Europe it is known demographically they have a shortage of availability of human capital at a certain point in time," Amin Khaireldin, strategy adviser to the Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA), said. ”Either you do offshoring-outsourcing services, or you import people. European countries do not want to import people." Oracle, Microsoft and Stream Global Service established businesses in Egypt in the past five years, drawn partly by cheap labor, government incentives and relatively stable telecoms infrastructure. Khaireldin said the target of generating US$10 billion from offshoring by 2020 was still preliminary. "But the challenge the minister is asking me now (is) to design a program for 10 billion, instead of a billion," he added.

Qtel sees more chances for foreign acquisitions

Qtel is looking for acquisitions in the Middle East and Asia, its CEO Nasser Marafih told the press. The Qatari company sees "a lot of opportunities" for acquisitions and expects consolidation in the Middle East. The company's supportive shareholders and cash flow from its operations in Qatar should support the expansion, he said. Qtel's expansion in recent years to 17 countries has been financed by bank loans and bonds. Moody's estimates the group's net debt, including subsidiaries, at QAR 36 billion (US$ 9.9 billion), and put the company on review for a downgrade from its A1 rating in March. While the operator's net debt has continued to rise this year, the ratio of debt to EBITDA has declined from 3.4 times in the first quarter of 2007 to 2.1 times in the first three months of this year, Qatar Telecom said. "We have continuously reduced our debt load, and we believe it is reasonable now," Marafih said. Qtel announced later that S&P increased its long-term rating on the operator to 'A' from 'A-' and the short-term rating to 'A-1' from 'A-2'. The outlook remains stable. The announcement follows S&P's upgrade on the sovereign ratings of the state of Qatar.

Orascom sells LDN Egypt to Mobinil

Orascom Telecom Holding (OTH) has completed sale of its internet services arm LINKdotNET and Link Egypt (LINK) to the mobile network operator, Mobinil, said a statement issued by Orascom Telecom. Orascom had announced in February 2009 about the sale of group's ISP part of Link Egypt' business. This transaction will affect LINKdotNET's Egyptian operations only. The other non-connectivity business, LINK Development, LINKonLINE, Connect Ads, Arab Finance Brokerage Company and Arpu+ will remain owned by OTH. The deal is a cash transaction based on an enterprise value of US$130 million. The business represents 56% and 90% of the revenue and EBITDA of OTH Internet Services respectively. The sale is expected to allow Mobinil to extend broadband and corporate communications services to its more than 26 million customers.

Qatar Telecom seeks acquisitions, CEO says

Qatar-owned telecoms provider Qatar Telecom will seek acquisitions in the Middle East and Asia despite mounting debt, the company's chief executive said in a newspaper report. Chief executive Nasser Marafih said that the company, which has already expanded into 17 countries in the Middle East, North Africa and Asia, benefits from its lucrative business in Qatar and the backing of its wealthy government, allowing it to continue to expand. "We're still on the lookout for good acquisition opportunities," Marafih said. "Scale is important and I think we will see more consolidation in the Middle East." Marafih said that its debt to earnings ratio has declined since 2007, making its debt load "reasonable now." Moody's estimates that its net debt is US$9.9 billion and put the company on review for a downgrade in March.