Thursday, December 30, 2010
Visafone, Etisalat Battle to Acquire Multi-Links
Posted on 5:12 AM by Unknown
Except for any last minute changes, strong feelers have emerged that the telecoms sector is set to witness the much predicted mergers and acquisitions of the Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) early next year.
Though, there are currently four CDMA operators in the country namely; Starcomms, Multilinks, ZOOMmobile and Visafone, there are strong indications that like it happened in the banking sector a few years ago when some banks merged and reduced to 25, the number of CDMAs may be reduced to two.
Erstwhile executive vice-chairman of Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr. Ernest Ndukwe, had predicted that the solution to poor financial performance by the CDMA operators, was to consolidate their operations, so that smaller CDMA operators will be swallowed by bigger ones like Visafone Communications Limited and Etisalat are reported to have shown great interest in acquiring the troubled MultiLinks.
Information available to LEADERSHIP, shows that arrangements are in top gear to strike a deal with Telkom South Africa, following its decision to exit the Nigerian market.
According to a senior official of Visafone, who did not want his name in print, all things being equal, the acquisition of Multilinks was just a matter of time.
He said based on strong fundamentals, rich customer trust and very robust technological platform which the company boasts of, Visafone is set to consolidate its strong foothold in the CDMA market.
According to him, "Visafone has said that even if the consolidation happens today, it would rather swallow others than be swallowed."
In a related development, Etisalat Nigeria has also been reported to have entered into discussions with Telkom South Africa on the possibility of acquiring the CDMA operator.
A report by the Communications Workers Union, (CWU), said there is the possibility of Etisalat acquiring 80 per cent stake of the company.
It would be recalled that Telkom South Africa had bought a 75 per cent stake of Multi-Links in 2007 for US$280 Million, and took full ownership of the company in 2008 for US$130 million in a bid to expand further outside its South African home base.
But now, Telkom believes that Multilinks which was supposed to be its breath of life, has suddenly started being a liability.
If the take-over of Multi-links by either Etisalat or Visafone happens eventually, it would bring the number of the CDMAs to three.
It would be recalled that as at 2001, there were over 20 CDMAs in existence, but today, only four have survived and moved from being single licence holders or fixed licence holders to Universal Service Licence (USL) holders.
Some of the CDMAs like MTS First wireless, Intercellular, Prestel, Rainbownet among others have all fizzled out
In the words of Ndukwe, who spoke to journalists at the Distinguished Electrical and Electronics Engineers Annual Lecture, "I think the way forward and what I will recommend is the consolidation of those companies. I think some of them should merge and bake a bigger cake rather than the segmented way they are today.
"And I think, as an industry, there is a move towards that direction. Some call it consolidation in the industry. When that happens, I suspect you will see better days for CDMA in the country."
The CDMA operators in Nigeria have lost about 1.08 million active subscribers between January and July 2010, according to official data.
According to the NCC subscriber data covering December 2009 to July 2010, active mobile CDMA lines, which stood at 7.7 million in January 2010, dropped to 6.6 million by July. This means that 1.08 million active lines have become inactive.
The number of CDMA lines increased from 7.77 million in January to 7.79 million in February, but dropped to 7.66 million in March. It, however, increased to 7.74 million in April.
However, the active subscriber base recorded a sharp drop from 7.49 million in May to 6.83 million in June, and rose again to 6.69 million in July.
The highest drop was experienced in June when the figure dropped from 7.49 million in May to 6.83 million.
Although, the total connected CDMA lines stood at 11.5 million as at July, the GSM subscriber base has recorded exponential growth from total connected 83.4 million lines in March 2009, and an active subscriber figure of 68.7 million, to 91.6 million and 72.2 million respectively, as at July, 2010.
While poor financial performance has been widely considered as the bane of growth in the CDMA telecoms market, investigation revealed that Multilinks, Starcomms, ZOOMmobile and Visafone lost about N1.95bn in the first six months of 2010.
According to the subscriber data provided by NCC, the CDMA operators lost about 1.08 million active subscribers between January and July, 2010.
The National Bureau of Statistics put the Average Revenue Per User of telecoms services in Nigeria , including that of the CDMAs, at N1,800.
Based on N1, 800 per user, an average of N1.95bn must have been lost on the 1.08 million subscribers by the CDMA operators in the first half of the year.
Though, there are currently four CDMA operators in the country namely; Starcomms, Multilinks, ZOOMmobile and Visafone, there are strong indications that like it happened in the banking sector a few years ago when some banks merged and reduced to 25, the number of CDMAs may be reduced to two.
Erstwhile executive vice-chairman of Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr. Ernest Ndukwe, had predicted that the solution to poor financial performance by the CDMA operators, was to consolidate their operations, so that smaller CDMA operators will be swallowed by bigger ones like Visafone Communications Limited and Etisalat are reported to have shown great interest in acquiring the troubled MultiLinks.
Information available to LEADERSHIP, shows that arrangements are in top gear to strike a deal with Telkom South Africa, following its decision to exit the Nigerian market.
According to a senior official of Visafone, who did not want his name in print, all things being equal, the acquisition of Multilinks was just a matter of time.
He said based on strong fundamentals, rich customer trust and very robust technological platform which the company boasts of, Visafone is set to consolidate its strong foothold in the CDMA market.
According to him, "Visafone has said that even if the consolidation happens today, it would rather swallow others than be swallowed."
In a related development, Etisalat Nigeria has also been reported to have entered into discussions with Telkom South Africa on the possibility of acquiring the CDMA operator.
A report by the Communications Workers Union, (CWU), said there is the possibility of Etisalat acquiring 80 per cent stake of the company.
It would be recalled that Telkom South Africa had bought a 75 per cent stake of Multi-Links in 2007 for US$280 Million, and took full ownership of the company in 2008 for US$130 million in a bid to expand further outside its South African home base.
But now, Telkom believes that Multilinks which was supposed to be its breath of life, has suddenly started being a liability.
If the take-over of Multi-links by either Etisalat or Visafone happens eventually, it would bring the number of the CDMAs to three.
It would be recalled that as at 2001, there were over 20 CDMAs in existence, but today, only four have survived and moved from being single licence holders or fixed licence holders to Universal Service Licence (USL) holders.
Some of the CDMAs like MTS First wireless, Intercellular, Prestel, Rainbownet among others have all fizzled out
In the words of Ndukwe, who spoke to journalists at the Distinguished Electrical and Electronics Engineers Annual Lecture, "I think the way forward and what I will recommend is the consolidation of those companies. I think some of them should merge and bake a bigger cake rather than the segmented way they are today.
"And I think, as an industry, there is a move towards that direction. Some call it consolidation in the industry. When that happens, I suspect you will see better days for CDMA in the country."
The CDMA operators in Nigeria have lost about 1.08 million active subscribers between January and July 2010, according to official data.
According to the NCC subscriber data covering December 2009 to July 2010, active mobile CDMA lines, which stood at 7.7 million in January 2010, dropped to 6.6 million by July. This means that 1.08 million active lines have become inactive.
The number of CDMA lines increased from 7.77 million in January to 7.79 million in February, but dropped to 7.66 million in March. It, however, increased to 7.74 million in April.
However, the active subscriber base recorded a sharp drop from 7.49 million in May to 6.83 million in June, and rose again to 6.69 million in July.
The highest drop was experienced in June when the figure dropped from 7.49 million in May to 6.83 million.
Although, the total connected CDMA lines stood at 11.5 million as at July, the GSM subscriber base has recorded exponential growth from total connected 83.4 million lines in March 2009, and an active subscriber figure of 68.7 million, to 91.6 million and 72.2 million respectively, as at July, 2010.
While poor financial performance has been widely considered as the bane of growth in the CDMA telecoms market, investigation revealed that Multilinks, Starcomms, ZOOMmobile and Visafone lost about N1.95bn in the first six months of 2010.
According to the subscriber data provided by NCC, the CDMA operators lost about 1.08 million active subscribers between January and July, 2010.
The National Bureau of Statistics put the Average Revenue Per User of telecoms services in Nigeria , including that of the CDMAs, at N1,800.
Based on N1, 800 per user, an average of N1.95bn must have been lost on the 1.08 million subscribers by the CDMA operators in the first half of the year.
Feel Free to share this blog post with your friends using the share buttons below this post.
If you have anything to contribute or ask, Kindly make use of the comment form below.
Please, do not forget to SUBSCRIBE to this blog, so that you can be receiving future Information Technology News,money making tricks,browsing cheat latest I.T Jobs,latest I.T career article DIRECTLY into your email inbox, even when you are not online.
We also offer Computer Engineering and Networking Training,Sales of both Laptop and Desktop Computer @ a very cheap price
NOTE: If the LINKS are NOT clickable, it simple means you are not reading this at www.olamoshsystem.com. So, visit WWW.OLAMOSHSYSTEM.COM now to read the original article.
Phone number:08026652529
E-mail Address:olamosh.system009@gmail.com
Join me on facebook:www.facebook.com/olamoshsystem
Website address:-www.olamoshsystem.com or www.latestdreamjob.blogspot.com
Group name on facebook:Information Technology(OLAMOSH SYSTEM LTD)
Group name on facebook:(LATEST DREAM JOB)
If you have anything to contribute or ask, Kindly make use of the comment form below.
Please, do not forget to SUBSCRIBE to this blog, so that you can be receiving future Information Technology News,money making tricks,browsing cheat latest I.T Jobs,latest I.T career article DIRECTLY into your email inbox, even when you are not online.
We also offer Computer Engineering and Networking Training,Sales of both Laptop and Desktop Computer @ a very cheap price
NOTE: If the LINKS are NOT clickable, it simple means you are not reading this at www.olamoshsystem.com. So, visit WWW.OLAMOSHSYSTEM.COM now to read the original article.
Phone number:08026652529
E-mail Address:olamosh.system009@gmail.com
Join me on facebook:www.facebook.com/olamoshsystem
Website address:-www.olamoshsystem.com or www.latestdreamjob.blogspot.com
Group name on facebook:Information Technology(OLAMOSH SYSTEM LTD)
Group name on facebook:(LATEST DREAM JOB)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Feedage
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
No Response to "Visafone, Etisalat Battle to Acquire Multi-Links"
Leave A Reply