Tag Archives: telecoms

Kazakhstan’s mobile operator faces fall in profits

JULY 17 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Net profit at KCell, Kazakhstan’s largest mobile operator, dropped by 23.6% in Jan-June compared to the same period in 2014 because of aggressive price competition, the company said.

A few days later, on July 21, Kazakhstan’s state monopolies committee also ordered KCell, owned by Sweden and Finland based Telia-Sonera, to return around 1.5b tenge ($800m) to its customers for overcharging, more evidence that mobile charges in Kazakhstan are falling sharply.

KCell CEO Arti Ots said: “Further intensification of competition, with notably aggressive pricing, has impacted our results for the second quarter of 2015.”

KCell’s competitors Tele2, also based in Sweden, also blamed a price war in Kazakhstan for lower-than-hoped for profits. Mats Granryd, the company’s CEO, said that prices in Kazakhstan are falling sharply.

“Kazakhstan is turning into a real bloodbath when it comes to pricing,” he told Reuters in an interview.

Mobile companies operating in Kazakhstan are competing to lower prices, in an effort to grab market share.

And the conse- quences of these pricing policies are filtering through. In earnings reports, both KCell and Tele2 said they have not been profitable in Kazakhstan in 2015.

Specifically, Kcell said that its sales in H1 2015 were down by 6.6% on the same period in 2014. It also said that service revenue dropped by 12.3%.

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(News report from Issue No. 241, published on July 23 2015)

Kazakh telecom plans IPO in London

JUNE 18 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kaztelecom, Kazakhstan’s stateowned fixed line telecoms company, plans to launch an IPO in London, its CEO Kuanyshbek Yessekeyev, said in an interview to the KazTag news agency. If the IPO does progress, and Mr Yessekeyev didn’t give a timeframe, it will attract much interest.

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(News report from Issue No. 236, published on June 18 2015)

TeliaSonera is transparent in Azerbaijan

MAY 28 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – TeliaSonera, Sweden’s biggest mobile phone operator, said it has been open and transparent about the way it bought a stake in Azerbaijan’s Azercell in 2008. It made the statement after TV stations reported that it bought the stake from the Azerbaijani government for $180m, far less than the estimated market value.

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(News report from Issue No. 233, published on May 28 2015)

Kazakh mobile operator income drops in Q1

APRIL 21 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kcell, Kazakhstan’s largest mobile operator, said that Q1 income had fallen by 15% and its customer based had dropped by 3% because of an increase in competition.

Strikingly, Kcell’s CEO Arti Ots didn’t make an reference to the general economic downturn that has hit Kazakhstan in his comments on the Q1 results. This is important because most consumer orientated businesses in Kazakhstan have reported a drop in sales over the past few months.

“In the first quarter of 2015 we have seen continued growth in data services and increased revenue from handset sales driven by demand for smartphones,” he said. “Voice revenues have declined in the face of intensifying competitive pressure.”

Kcell is listed on the London stock exchange but controlled by TeliaSonera, a Nordic company.

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(News report from Issue No. 228, published on April 22 2015)

Turkmenistan created new telecom company

APRIL 21 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmenistan’s Ministry of Communications and its subsidiary, Turkmen Telecom, have created a new telecoms company called Ashgabat Shaher Telefon Ulgamy (ASTU).

ASTU, which means Ashgabat Urban Telephone Network, is tasked with improving the efficiency of the network and appears to be a part of Turkmenistan’s strategy to boost its telecoms networks.

“High-quality communication services, as well as high-speed channels to connect to broadband Internet and data transmission are ensured,” media quoted the government owned Neutral Turkmenistan newspaper as saying.

“Laying of transnational fibre-optic communication lines continues with the aim of expanding the interstate telephone traffic.”

The government-approved press release on the creation of the new company was the only information available.

Last month, the government also approved an ambitious plan to construct a fibre- optic line between the Caspian port of Turkmenbashi and Baku, Azerbaijan.

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(News report from Issue No. 228, published on April 22 2015)

Tajikistan raises taxes on mobile phones

APRIL 2 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajikistan has raised tax on mobile phone connections to 5% from 3%, an industry website reported. Reports said that the increase in tax will force mobile phone companies to pass on the extra cost to their consumers, pushing up inflation across the country.
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(News report from Issue No. 226, published on April 8 2015)

Corruption alleged in Uzbek telecoms

JAN. 17 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — An anonymous whistle-blower in Norway has alleged corruption at Vimpelcom, a telecoms company a third owned by Norwegian Telenor, media reported. Telenor and Vimpelcom deny the allegations. Uzbekistan’s telecoms sector is already mired in an alleged corruption case.
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(News report from Issue No. 215, published on Jan. 21 2015)

Telenor worries in Uzbekistan

NOV. 19 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Norway’s government summoned the head of Telenor, the telecoms company in which it owns a 54% stake, to explain newspaper reports which have alleged that VimpelCom, a part-owned subsidiary, paid bribes in Uzbekistan to win business, Bloomberg reported.

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(News report from Issue No. 210, published on Nov. 26 2014)

Korea invests in Uzbekistan’s 4G

NOV. 7 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Through its subsidiary Super iMAX, Korea Telecom will launch a 4G technology in Uzbekistan in 2015, media reported. South Korea is one of the biggest investors in Uzbekistan. The 4G service will be available in Tashkent, Samarkand and Bukhara.

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(News report from Issue No. 208, published on Nov.12 2014)

MTS returning to Uzbekistan

NOV. 7 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russian mobile provider MTS is testing equipment ahead of its re-entry into Uzbekistan, media reported. MTS, which is owned by Russia’s Sistema, quit Uzbekistan after a major row with the authorities in 2012 over alleged unpaid tax bills. It since appears to have made up and has agreed to return to the country.

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(News report from Issue No. 208, published on Nov.12 2014)