The prospect of consolidation among African and Middle Eastern operators has provided much fuel for the industry rumour mill in 2009, but the apparent collapse of talks involving the disposal of Zain Africa as well as those between Bharti and MTN has not diminished the appetite for expansion.
A marriage that had the potential to be one of the most influential matches in the industry has been called off, with the parents of the bride-to-be clearly unimpressed by the quality of her suitor. Indian carrier Bharti Airtel’s attempts to woo African regional specialist MTN have come to nought, with the South African government, MTN’s biggest shareholder, understood to have put the kybosh on the whole affair.
Merger talks between emerging markets giants Bharti and MTN have been called off once again, after the two firms failed to convince the South African government – MTN’s biggest shareholder – on the benefits of the deal.
Progress on the region’s big M&A deals – the prospective sale of Zain Africa or a stake in Zain; and the cash and share-swap deal between Bharti and MTN – appears to have stalled. There has been such confusion in the past few days over the possible sale of a large stake in Zain to an Indo-Malaysian consortium that it is at risk of descending into a debacle.
Merger talks between India’s largest carrier, Bharti Airtel, and pan-MEA operator MTN have been extended by an extra month, suggesting an agreement may be in the pipeline.
Merger talks between India’s largest carrier, Bharti Airtel, and pan-MEA operator MTN have been restarted a year after they were last abandoned. The news comes in the wake of the carriers each announcing that they have broken the 100 million subscriber barrier.
Spare ribs, that’s what the Informer needs after all of the ones he was born with exploded from excessive laughter this week, which featured, nestled at its centre, April Fool’s Day. One of the great George W. Bushisms runs: “There’s an old saying in Texas: ‘Fool me once… shame on… shame on you. Fool me… you can’t get fooled again.” And that’s kind of how the Informer felt as March went out like a lamb.
The GSM Association’s personal Instant Messaging (IM) campaign has scored further success in Asia, with mobile operators in Malaysia and Singapore planning the development and launch of interoperable IM services. Launched at the 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona last February, the initiative aims to make instant messaging on mobile networks as ubiquitous and popular as [...]
A step in the right direction but does it go far enough?
Sharing an allowance among family members is one ...
I agree with Dan about this being a excellent read, and that QNX is not well known but sooner or ...
Excellent read with some actual facts compared to the hack journalist/bloggers on the interest. Many don't understand what QNX ...
The main issue with Telenor is that whether they made underhand payments to ge the licenses. If they did, then ...
Over The Top providers have become the staple wildcard in almost any sector set on a collision path with mobile. By and large they are very good at what they do: connecting a user with their chosen content or service by whatever means available.
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