Egypt Mobile Network Operators Overview

Egypt has one of the largest mobile telecom markets in Africa, with effective competition and a penetration rate of about 94%. Although the country was among the first countries in the region to launch 3G mobile services, the development of LTE services was delayed by the late issuing of licenses. Telecom Egypt (operating under the brand WE) in August 2016 received the country’s first unified services licence, which allowed it to offer LTE services, while the remaining three MNOs (Orange Egypt, Vodafone Egypt and Etisalat Misr) followed after having disputed the terms associated with the LTE licences offered. Commercial LTE services were launched in late 2017 under unified licences which also enabled the three network operators to offer fixed-line services using the infrastructure of Telecom Egypt. It has been speculated the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA) will start selling 5G spectra to Egypt’s four mobile network operators in 2020.

The three first providers have a similar footprint and 2G and 3G in the populated areas. Orange, once called Mobinil used to be market leader, but lost this position in recent years to Vodafone. Etisalat is the newest arrival, but almost on par in coverage now. So speed and coverage depend heavily on your local position to the closest antenna. 2G is on 900 MHz (and 1800 Mhz on Etisalat only), 3G up to HSPA+ speed on 2100 MHz.

In 2016 landline operator Telecom Egypt became the first operator to acquire a 4G/LTE concession. They've launched in September 2017 offering 2G, 3G and 4G services via Orange Egypt with whom they inked a roaming deal in 2017 for the next years. The other providers also received licenses for 4G/LTE.

For 4G/LTE licences are given out on 700 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz and 2100 MHz (Bands 1, 3, 8, 28) with 1800 MHz (B 3) as primary band. Some of these bands are used for 2G and 3G too, what has affected the 2G/3G service. After some delays 4G/LTE services have been finally starting on all providers in 2017.

According to OpenSignal report of March 2019 4G/LTE availability is around 60% through all networks with Vodafone topping the list at 67%. Download 4G speed is on average 8-9 Mbit/s with Orange topping at 10 Mbit/s.






Vodafone Egypt, half owned by Telecom Egypt, has become the biggest provider in Egypt with a 44% share of the market. It overtook Mobinil (now branded Orange) in 2011 and offers a good coverage at pretty high rates. For 4G/LTE Vodafone started in 2017 on 1800 MHz (B3) in major towns and resorts.

Saudi Telecom Company (STC)  has signed an initial agreement to acquire Vodafone’s 55 per cent stake in Vodafone Egypt for $2.4bn in the latest step to unravel the British group’s global empire.The prospective deal, which values Vodafone Egypt at $4.4bn, comes as Riyadh-listed STC seeks to expand regionally.

Vodafone has in recent years sold out of or merged with rivals in a number of countries, including India and New Zealand, to focus on expanding its European footprint.  Vodafone Egypt is the largest telecoms operator in Egypt by market share and the British telecoms company was the country’s largest foreign investor.

Egypt has been a growth engine for Vodafone in the past but they were criticised by activist groups during the Arab Spring in 2011 after their network was used to send text messages telling Egyptians to “confront the traitors and criminals” on behalf of the government, before it was turned off. The company later defended its actions saying that three of its engineers were being held hostage and that it had no choice but to comply with the law.

Orange were the biggest mobile provider in Egypt back in the days when it was still called Mobinil. In 2016 they were rebranded to the Orange label. They compete with Vodafone and Etisalat and are at no.2 position with 33% of customers They offer a good coverage in the country and 4G/LTE has started in 2017 on 1800 MHz (B3) in major towns and resorts.

It has been announced Orange Egypt will build and operate a data center and cloud computing platform for New Cairo, Egypt’s next capital city. The Administrative Capital for Urban Development (ACUD) is a state-backed company contracting the telco's regional subsidiary. Daily News Egypt reported on the signing of the contract between Orange and ACUD on January 12 2020.

According to the deal, Orange Egypt will provide the main infrastructure to help the city provide various services in conjunction with IoT solutions, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence.

Etisalat is the smallest of the three providers with a market share of 22%. It gives good coverage in some places, but has gaps and slow speeds in others. They combine their own hotspots in their products. Etisalat is said to have the lowest coverage, but are the only provider that publish+es a 2G/3G coverage map. 4G/LTE was launched in 2017 on 1800 MHz (B3) in major towns and resorts.

 Etisalat Misr has teamed up with Honeywell  to support Egypt’s smart city vision and deliver world-class services for citizens at Egypt’s New Administrative Capital, which is one of the world’s largest smart city projects.



Telecom Egypt (its brand name WE) is the state-owned landline monopolist with more than 6 million customers. In 2016 it acquired a LTE license and the network has been started in autumn 2017. They provide 4G/LTE at first "experiminentally" on Bands 1 and 8 (900, 2100 MHz). 2G and 3G coverage is done through roaming agreements with Orange and Etisalat.

Telecom Egypt also has a 45% stake in Vodafone Egypt which they have stated they have no intention of selling.

Taiwan Auctions 5G Spectrum in 3.5GHz & 28GHz - 5G Private Networks on Horizon Too

The Taiwanese Regulator National Communications and Communications Commission (NCC) reported that the 5G first wave of mobile broadband services in the first phase of quantity bidding ends today (16 Jan 2020), the total bid price of each band reached NT $ 138.081 billion. The official report is available here with the PDF of all details here (in Chinese)

Mobile World Live detailed:

All five mobile operators in Taiwan spent a total of TWD138 billion ($4.6 billion) securing 5G spectrum, with the protracted sale registering as the third-priciest auction for the technology in the world, Taipei Times reported, citing figures from the regulator.

Taiwan’s government forecast the sale to generate about TWD44 billion. The price per 10MHz block of 3.5GHz spectrum reached TWD5.075 billion, which the National Communications Commission (NCC) said was a world record.

The auction started on 10 December and ended yesterday (16 January) after 261 rounds. On offer was 270MHz in the 3.5GHz band, 2,500MHz of 28GHz airwaves and 20MHz in the 1.8GHz band.

Market leader Chunghwa Telecom paid TWD45.7 billion for 90MHz in the 3.5GHz band and TWD618 million for 600MHz of 28GHz spectrum. It plans to launch 5G services in July, the newspaper wrote.

Far EasTone acquired 80MHz of 3.5GHz spectrum for TWD40.6 billion and 400MHz in the 28GHz band for TWD412 million, while Taiwan Mobile spent TWD30.4 billion on 60MHz in the 3.5GHz band and TWD206 million for 200MHz of 28GHz airwaves.

Taiwan Star Telecom secured 40MHz in the 3.5GHz band for TWD19.7 billion.

Asia Pacific Telecom, the smallest operator with a 7 per cent market share by subscribers, pulled out of the 3.5GHz sale after initially bidding, but paid TWD412 million for 40MHz of 28GHz spectrum. It said it would look to cooperate with other operators.

The NCC introduced regulations requiring operators to share 5G spectrum with rivals.

Only 1,600MHz of the 28GHz spectrum was sold.

A recent report by Yu-li Liu, Ph.D., Head & Professor, City University of Hong Kong available here provides more details about Taiwanese market:

There are 5 main players; the leader Chunghwa Telecom is followed by Far EasTone. Taiwan Mobile, Taiwan Star and Asia Pacific Telecom (also known as GT) follow the leaders.

OpenSignal did a detailed analysis of Taiwan just last month (Dec 2019), available here. As you can see, the real competition is between Chunghwa, FarEasTone & Taiwan Mobile.

The current spectrum policy applicable to the main operators can be seen above.

On the other hand, Asia Pacific Telecom (a.k.a. GT) supports private networks and has a subsidiary, a system integration company, involved in 5G private networks. Considering that they only won 400 MHz in 28 GHz band, this may well be their game plan. We will have to wait and see.

Ecuador taking baby steps towards 5G

Ecuador has a small telecom market dominated by the mobile sector. The evolution of the market has suffered due to poor infrastructure, topographical challenges and the deploying of networks to remote and mountainous areas is very expensive. Unfortunately there has been a legacy of under investment in telecoms infrastructure.

The mobile sector is shared by América Móvil’s Conecel (trading as Claro), which has a 52.5% share of the market by subscribers, Telefónica’s Otecel (trading as Movistar) with about 30% of the market, and CNT (previously Telecsa/Alegro) with a share of 17.6% share. Thus far the MVNO sector has been slow to develop, partly because the incumbent operators also have their low-cost brands and thus there is little business case for new market entrants. Virgin Mobile is expected to launch a service in Ecuador, following on from similar launches in Mexico, Chile and Colombia.


Claro the leading mobile network operator by subscribers has the best coverage especially in remote areas. 4G/LTE has started in 2015 in Guayaquil, Quito, Cumbayá and Sangoloquí and is rolled out in other regions available for prepaid.



Claro have demonstrated 5G technology at an event organised by the Ministry of Telecommunications in Guayaquil to promote its ‘Digital Ecuador’ strategy. In a statement, the company said interactive exhibits would enable users to experience the faster download speeds enabled by 5G, as well as applications such as virtual and augmented reality, and the Internet of Things (IoT). The operator, which recently announced plans to invest USD500 million in network upgrades over the next three years, also revealed it will soon begin 5G technology tests in Quito in partnership with hardware vendor Huawei. Ecuador’s government outlined plans in July to allocate 3.5GHz spectrum in 2020 in preparation for the launch of 5G services.


Movistar (brand name of Telefonica) is the 2nd network in the country, giving even better speeds in the cities, but a lower coverage: coverage checker outside. 4G/LTE is open for prepaid and available in Guayaquil, Salinas Quito, Cuenca, Azogues, Ambato and Tonsupa in 2016.

Back in September, Commsupdate reported that Spanish telecoms group Telefonica has begun exploring the sale of its Ecuador unit for as much as EUR800 million (USD881.8 million) as part of its ongoing debt reduction efforts, reports Spanish daily El Economista citing unnamed sources. Although talks with potential buyers have yet to begin, the group is studying market conditions ahead of a sale which could attract interest from Millicom (Tigo) and Entel Chile, claims the report. Telefonica Ecuador (operating under the Movistar brand) reported EBITDA of EUR75 million and revenue of EUR252 million in the first six months of 2019.



Back in August, Telefonica did 5G demos with ZTE to prove the benefits of 5G. According to Ecuador TV, the organizers were looking to share with the community the importance, advantages and benefits that will be had with the new 5G technology. Several virtual reality posts were exhibited in which the user can observe the augmented reality in real time. For example, a camera was placed on the eighth floor of the building and when putting on the glasses one could feel the vertigo of the height.



CNT or Corporación Nacional de Telecomunicaciones is the public provider in Ecuador. They focus mainly on ADSL and landline phone connections. It has a mobile network too, but this is rather limited in coverage. 4G/LTE is open for prepaid and gives the best speeds in cities of all operators in the country.

Ecuador Mobile Network Experience Report July 2019 from OpenSignal listed Claro as a winnder of their 'Download Speed Experience' award, following a draw with Movistar six months ago, as the Telefónica subsidiary's growth in this metric has stalled. It was a similar story in Upload Speed Experience, where static growth from Movistar allowed Claro to surge ahead and grab the award. But in both speed metrics, CNT's users saw the greatest improvement.

The 'Video Experience' award was shared jointly by Claro and CNT, as both these operators pulled ahead of Movistar, whose score dropped after winning this metric six months ago. All three of Ecuador's operators now have Fair ratings as CNT's Video Experience score jumped by 13 points (out of 100). Movistar kept hold of our 4G Availability award, but statistically saw no growth in its score over the past six months. CNT increased its score by 8 percentage points to tie for second place with Claro — and both operators are now within 5 points of the leader.

In the cities analysis, CNT managed to win three of the awards in Quito — 4G Availability, Video Experience and Download Speed Experience — while it drew with Claro for Latency Experience. State-owned CNT has also shown the greatest improvement across its scores in this report, and is fast becoming a serious challenger to its bigger rivals.

You can read all details here.

Hong Kong Getting Ready for 5G with Spectrum Auctions Conclusion

Hong Kong is a small market my some measurements and calculations. According to Office of the Communications Authority (OFCA) Statistics, Oct 2018, Hong Kong had:

• 7.3 million population with 2.49 million household
• 27 Fixed Operators:
• Residential fixed line penetration rate 89% household
• Broadband penetration rate 92.5% household
• Broadband customer accounts 2.67 million
• 2 Pay-TV Operators:
• Pay-TV penetration rate 99% household
• 4 Mobile Operators:
• Mobile penetration rate 250%
• Mobile subscriptions 18.6 million

As can be seen, HKT is the top operator with not just the majority of market share but also most spectrum. This is followed by 3HK, China Mobile HK and SmarTone (SMT).

Mobile World Live has a good summary of all the spectrum auctions:

Hong Kong completed the last of three 5G spectrum auctions, with operators spending a combined HKD665.1 million ($85 million) on 100MHz of 3.3GHz airwaves.

HKT and Hutchison Telecommunications Hong Kong each paid HKD199.5 million for 30MHz of the mid-band 5G spectrum, while China Mobile Hong Kong and SmarTone forked out HKD133 million apiece on 20MHz.

The Office of the Communications Authority said the successful bidders must pay spectrum utilisation fees and submit performance bonds by 11 December to guarantee compliance with network and service rollout requirements. Spectrum will be assigned that month and be valid for 15 years.

In a statement, HKT said the 3.3GHz band is designed for indoor use and is extremely valuable for supplementing 3.5GHz band spectrum to provide extra capacity in heavily loaded indoor environments such as the underground rail network.

Together with 400MHz of 5G spectrum in the 26GHz and 28GHz bands administratively assigned by the government in March, HKT will have a total of 520MHz of 5G spectrum.

An HKT representative said it appreciates the government’s decision to set more reasonable auction reserve prices, along with other amendments for the 5G spectrum, stating this would boost the development of the industry and benefit mobile users.

HKT and China Mobile Hong Kong were each awarded 40MHz of 5G spectrum in the 4.9GHz band at a reserve price of HKD120 million on 23 October. In mid-October all four operators acquired 200MHz of 3.5GHz spectrum.

The three auctions raised a total of HKD1.91 billion, with market leader HKT and China Mobile Hong Kong each acquiring a total of 120MHz, and SmarTone and Hutchison Telecommunications Hong Kong 70MHz each.

The official OFCA document on Spectrum Release Plan for 2020 – 2022 is available here.

Back in December, Microwave Journal reported:

China Mobile Hong Kong (CMHK) is Hong Kong's first mobile network operator to have successfully accomplished 5G Standalone (SA) network test and also completed the first voice over NR (VoNR) call. The radio cell sites supporting both 5G SA and NSA network are now installed for trial test at China Mobile 5G Innovation Center Hong Kong Open Lab in Hong Kong Science Park and Mita Internet Data Center in Kwai Chung.

MWL adds, CMHK, the first to launch 5G tests in the territory, acquired 20MHz of spectrum in the 3.3GHz band, 40MHz in the 4.9GHz band and 200MHz in the 3.5GHz band.

A Mobile Network Experience report from OpenSignal in Dec 2019 showed that the mobile ecosystem is thriving well in Hong Kong with customers getting a great experience from all networks.

Related Posts:

• 3G4G Small Cells Blog: Small Cells on Hong Kong Lamp Posts 

Rogers: Striving for 5G

Rogers is the largest mobile operator by subscribers in Canada and also provides coverage in approximately 97% of the vast country.

Source

Recently they have been working to upgrade their existing network, which has fallen behind those of Bell and Telus when it comes to top speeds, according to independent reports by PCMag and Open Signal. 

They have invested $1.7 billion in Canada’s first-ever 5G auction to enable 5G deployment in urban, suburban and rural communities, and acquired the 600 Mhz spectrum. This will bring the company’s planned total capital investment in infrastructure to $4.7 billion this year. 600 MHz carries wireless data across long distances and through dense urban buildings. This creates more consistent and higher quality coverage in both remote areas and smart cities. This coverage will benefit businesses across the country that rely on real-time data including farming, mining, manufacturing and transportation.

Vous êtes-vous déjà demandé comment la 5G affectera votre temps de réponse au jeu? @Gadget_Guy nous explique l’impact de #Rogers5G en nous faisant une démonstration de l’utilisation de la réalité virtuelle! pic.twitter.com/6gjZq9aWyv

— Rogers FR (@RogersFR) July 9, 2019

Partnering with Ericsson, Rogers will trial 5G in Toronto and Ottawa, in addition to select cities. They recently demonstrated ultra-fast speeds and low latency with virtual reality and a robot, installing hundreds of small cells in a stadium to test the new technology with data-hungry crowds at this event:




This partnership with Ericsson intends to boost and densify their network with small cells and macro sites across the country. Rogers network plan includes the continued rollout of its Gigabit LTE network with technology and equipment that is based on the latest global 3GPP standards, including 4×4 MIMO, four-carrier aggregation and 256 QAM. While the 5G standards are not yet complete, these network investments mean Rogers will be ready when the standards are finished. The new infrastructure will simply require software upgrades to enable 5G when it is ready to go. It is estimated their 5G network should be ready for prime time by 2020.

The operator is also seeing increasing growth opportunities in the machine-to-machine segment with the firm’s current 4.5G capabilities, and Canada is a market leader in machine-to-machine/IoT technology.  

However in the first quarter of 2019 Rogers’ market share of industry net adds declined to 13 per cent from 35 per cent in the same period. In a bid to attract more subscribers, Rogers introduced its own unlimited wireless plan, Infinite, in June. Competitors Bell and Telus responded by offering their own promotional offers, sparking a price war in the crowded Canadian market.


Related Posts:

• Telus says 5G is just another 'G' (#5GJAG)

Reliance Jio Announces Progress, Amid Decreasing ARPU

Back in October we wrote about Jio reaching 250 million subscribers, now it has announced over 300 million subscribers up to March 2019. In fact their Q4 financial results summarises the results nicely, as can be seen in the picture below.

In summary:

• Total subscriber base stands at 306.7 million
• ARPU ₹126.2 (roughly US $1.8)
• Average data consumption 10.9 GB/ user/ month.
• Wireless Data Consumption across network was 956 crore GB (9560 Petabytes) during the quarter 
• Average Voice 823 minutes of VOLTE voice/ user/ month
• Jio network carried ~71% of 4G data traffic in India during CY18

One of the strategies that Jio has adopted is to bring connectivity to even the most remote locations. In a way they are forced to do this as they do not have legacy networks and rely on VoLTE for voice. VoLTE only works reliably with a proper 4G coverage.

In addition to providing voice & data, Jio is bringing unique Apps for not just keeping customers updated and in-control of their package, service and spending but also entertainment which is a must have nowadays for any service to succeed. Smart feature phones using KaiOS is letting them bring new users who are too reluctant to transition to smartphones.

OpenSignal report on India Mobile Network Experience, April 2019 pointed out that:

The story of Jio's network expansion is remarkable. Jio has been a fully-fledged 4G operator for less than three years, but has completely disrupted the market with its rapid network rollout and unlimited data plans. In our first report on the India market two years ago, Jio scored an outstanding 91.5% 4G Availability. Six months later the operator had passed the 95% mark, and its score has been steadily growing ever since.

To put this in context, Jio's winning 4G Availability score of 97.5% is the highest we have ever recorded at country level in any of our reports. In the U.S., two operators have scored over 90%, while in Taiwan four are over this mark — but none in either market have yet passed 95%. Even in the Netherlands, arguably Europe's most advanced mobile market, all the operators have 4G Availability scores over 90%, but only one has passed 95% — and only just, reaching 95.2% — while Japan has two operators over this benchmark. In a country with the sheer geographical size and population base of India, where the landscape ranges from huge cities to high mountains and vast agricultural plains, Jio's achievement of reaching 97.5% 4G Availability in such a short time is truly astonishing.

Jio has themselves committed to achieve all-IP 4G LTE network population coverage of 99% shortly. We will wait and see when this will happen but in the meantime, Reliance Jio has plenty to celebrate.

Brazil: Improving 4G, 5G coming in 2020

Brazil is one of the largest mobile markets in Latin America, with four major mobile operators offering a range of voice and data services: Telefónica’s Vivo, Claro Brasil, TIM Brasil, and Oi. 

All four operators have secured spectrum in the 2.5GHz band with which they are expanding their LTE networks to capitalise on consumer demand for mobile data services. The government has also made available the 700MHz band (previously allocated to TV broadcasters) for mobile broadband use, and about 70% of this spectrum had been released by broadcasters by late 2018.

Brazilian telecommunications agency Anatel is engaged in discussions on an international level regarding the deployment of the 5G standards. Preliminary information indicates that the agency is to allocate the 3.5GHz or 28 GHz band for the roll out of 5G in Brazil.

Brazil’s market leader is Vivo, it has a 28.5% market share with 73 million subscribers, 57% of whom are using prepaid plans. People view the service as the best in the country and as having the most reliable network coverage. This comes at a price, though, since it also has the highest rates of all the providers.

Vivo uses 4 GSM bands, 2 UMTS bands, and 1 LTE band. According to Open Signal in their most recent report Vivo delivered the second fastest 4G speed in their tests, averaging 21.3 Mbps.

Tim owned by Telecom Italia, their mobile customers are 55.9 million, of which 34.5 million are 4G users, and they have a 24.4% market share.  They use 1 GSM band, 2 UMTS bands, and 2 LTE bands. Their 2G, 3G and 4G services are available across Brazil.

Their 4G network is present in 3,272 cities, reaching 93% of urban population.

TIM emerged as the clear winner in 4G availability in the recent Open Signal report. Users on TIM were able to find an LTE signal 59.2% of the time. In general, though, no operator in Brazil was able to provide consistent 4G connectivity. 

In 2018 TIM Brasil continued to expand its fixed ultra-broadband network. The FTTH technology (Fiber to the Home) reached 1.1 million homes in 11 cities , of which 5 are capitals and the FTTC technology (Fiber to the Cabinet) 3.5 million in 4 cities, with a total of 4.3 million households in 14 cities.

TIM’s aims to focus on  modernization, simplification and artificial intelligence to build a new and automated 5G network while continuing to dismiss and consolidate legacy assets such as data centers and exchanges. They have started discussions with Open Fiber to explore all possible options, including a business combination to generate opportunity that a single network presents. TIM has reached 99 percent of the population with 4G and 80 percent with Fiber. TIM will expand the coverage, in synergy with 5G deployment. They will be focusing on quality of Giga network. Ultra-broadband penetration will grow to 80 percent of TIM’s broadband client base by 2021 from 45 percent in 2018.

Claro is the third largest operator in Brazil. It has a 25% market share with more than 50 million prepaid customers. Claro has the best coverage on 4G/LTE and is very popular with the younger crowd who are looking for good prepaid deals.
According to Open Signal the average 4G download speed for Claro is 27.5 Mbps, which was more than double the average speeds measured on Oi and TIM's LTE networks. Claro also had the best 3G performance in their speed rankings, averaging HSPA download speeds of 3.9 Mbps.

Oi (Brazilians use this for hello) is the smallest of the big four operators and has an 18% market share. Oi has the largest Wi-Fi network with more than 1 million access points across Brazil. However they lost 8.5 percent of their mobile clients in 2017/18, ending June 218 with 36.5 million subscribers. Their CEO has also stated that 'We're in judicial recovery, not bankruptcy'. 


Brazil is a good example of mobile operators teaming up,  to deliver coverage in areas especially when hosting football matches during the 2013 Confederations Cup and the 2014 World Cup.

Regulators allowed the deal under the proviso it would improve regional coverage and would not harm competition. The partnerships improved operational efficiencies and allowed operators to deploy infrastructure in smaller regional areas.

One of the agreements, between operators Vivo and Claro, was so successful that the shared approach to cell sites more than double from the initial agreement.

“Today, the shared network of Claro and Vivo covers 5.6 million people in rural areas. From the government’s perspective, the benefits were twofold: first, it accelerated the provision of mobile services; and second, it increased service level competition,” GSMA reported.



Further reading:

• Open Signal Report - Brazil: Mobile Network Experience Report, January 2019

Maroc Telecom's African Presence

Morocco has been consistently making it into the top 50 countries for LTE availability and speed. This is mostly thanks to Maroc Telecom, Morocco's largest mobile operator. According to the facts and figures published:

As a global operator and leader in Morocco and other African countries, the Maroc Telecom Group actively participates in teh development of Africa's telecommunications sector. It is a major player on the contintent with a presence in ten countries: Morocco, Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Central African Republic, and Togo, with nearly 51 million customers.

A major focus on the group's sustainable development policy is the reduce the digital divide. Aware of its responsibility as a leading economic and social force, the group contributes to numerous social initiatives.

In connection with the South-South cooperation policy supported by His Majesty the King, the group is estalbishing a sustainable presence in Africa. Its successful development strategy is built on partnerships founded on confidence, knowledge sharing, and respect for local cultures and skills.

Privatised in 2001, Maroc Telecom has been listed simultaneously on the Casablanca and Paris stock exchanges since December 2004. Its major shareholders are the Etlisalat Group (53%) and the Kingdom of Morocco (30%).

According to Halberd Bastion, the Ownership/Controlling Entities of Maroc Telecom is Etisalat group.

The following are some interesting facts according to a recent Investor Presentation:

• Sustained revenue growth in outgoing services thanks to the surge in Mobile Internet revenue (+53% year-on-year).
• Growth in mobile customer base: Growth in Postpaid Mobile customer base which represents more than 9% of the customer base
• Decline in incoming revenues: Resulting from the liberalization of VoIP since November 2016 and the reintroduction of the asymmetry in call terminations since March 1, 2017
• Mobile Internet very popular: Data penetration up to 51% - Increase in data usage, thanks to 4G customers who consume 2.3x more than 3G customers
• Activation of 900 MHz frequency on 3G, allowing the improvement of Indoor and Outdoor coverage

The following information about Maroc Telecom subsidiaries is from Halberd Bastion:

Atlantique Telecom
Headquarters: Côte d'Ivoire
Comments: Recognizing the development potential of mobile telephony in sub-Saharan Africa, Atlantique Telecom Group, created in 2002 by African professionals is a major player in the economic fabric of countries where it operates. The company was acquired by UAE telecommunications giant Etisalat in 2005, only to be sold in 2015 to Maroc Telecom. Atlantique Telecom Group is now a fully owned subsidiary of Maroc Telecom. Being geographically represented in 6 African countries (Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, Gabon, Niger, Central African Republic, and Togo), ATLANTIQUE TELECOM is positioning itself, in terms of presence as one of the leading telecom operators in West Africa and Central Africa. In addition, the group is also operates in the areas of Internet, data and IP telephony, through Prestige Telecom also part of the group.


Telecel (Moov) Faso (Officially Telecel Faso S.A.)
Website
Country: Burkina Faso
2G Bands: 900 MHz
3G Bands: None
4G Bands: None
Comments: Telecel Faso is the third largest mobile carrier operating in Burkina Faso. The company, owned by Atlantique Telecom (now owned by Maroc Telecom), was founded in 2000 and is headquartered in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Telecel Faso is in the process of being rebranded to Moov. The company operates a standard 2G GSM network over the 900 MHz band, including GPRS data services. Telecel Faso has announced its intentions to launch 3G service in the country however to date rollout has not begun.


Onatel (Telmob)
Country: Burkina Faso
2G Bands: 900 MHz
3G Bands: B1 (2100 MHz) - DC-HSPA+
4G Bands: None
Comments: Onatel is the largest mobile carrier operating in Burkina Faso. The company was the first to launch mobile services in the country, with a GSM network launched in December 1996. While still state-owned enterprise, Onatel is considered partially privatised and is listed on the Abidjan Regional Stock Exchange with symbol ONTBF. The largest shareholder is Maroc Telecom with a 61% controlling stake, itself owned by Etisalat. Onatel offers its mobile phone services under the brand Telmob. The company operates a 2G GSM service over the 900 MHz frequency and 3G UMTS network over the B1 (2100 MHz) band since May 2013. DC-HSPA+ data services were announced 10 days after launch.


Moov (Officially Atlantique Telecom Centrafrique SA)
Website
Country: Central African Republic
2G Bands: 900 MHz
3G Bands: None
4G Bands: None
Comments: Moov is a mobile carrier operating in Central African Republic (Centrafrique). The company began operations in 2005 then owned by Atlantic Telecom, only to be acquired by Etisalat shortly after. In 2014 Maroc Telecom took over Etisalat's West African operations comprising of its subsidiaries in Benin, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Niger, the Central African Republic and Togo. The company operates 2G GSM services over the 900 MHz band. Currently no 3G UMTS or 4G LTE services are available.


Moov Côte d’Ivoire (Oficially Atlantique Telecom Côte d'Ivoire)
Country: Côte d'Ivoire
2G Bands: 900 MHz
3G Bands: B1 (2100 MHz)
4G Bands: None
Comments: Moov is a mobile carrier operating in Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast). The company began operations in 2006 then owned by Atlantique Télécom, only to be acquired by Etisalat shortly after. In 2014 Maroc Telecom took over Etisalat's West African operations comprising of its subsidiaries in Benin, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Niger, the Central African Republic, and Togo. Maroc Telecom holds a direct 84.99% stake in Moov, with the minority shareholder not disclosed. The company operates 2G GSM services over the 900 MHz band. 3G UMTS was launched in December 2012 over B1 (2100 MHz), providing up to 21 Mbps via HSPA+ which Moov markets as "3.75G". As with all national carriers in Côte d’Ivoire, the company holds 800, 1800, and 2600 MHz licences which may be used in future to deploy LTE services.

Gabon Telecom (Officially Gabon Telecom SA)
Website
Country: Gabon
2G Bands: 900 MHz
3G Bands: B1 (2100 MHz)
4G Bands: B3 (1800 MHz), B7 (2600 MHz), B20 (800 MHz)
Comments: Gabon Telecom is the largest telecommunications operator in Gabon. Historically a state-owned enterprise, the company was formed in June 2001 following the reorganisation of the postal and telecommunications sector. In March 1999, Gabon Telecom created Libertis, its mobile brand. In February 2007, following an international tender, the Gabonese state ceded 51% of the shares to Maroc Telecom, finalised in December 2010. Gabon Telecom has since July 2016, operated a merger with the company Atlantic Telecom Gabon (MOOV), subsidiary of the Etisalat Group. Gabon Telecom, through merger of Libertis and Moov, operates 2G GSM services over the 900 MHz band, and 3G UMTS over B1 (2100 MHz) with HSPA+ data. 4G LTE is available through the merging of Gabon Telecom's network which was launched October 2014 (and upgraded to LTE-A 223 Mbps in November 2015), and Moov's 300 Mbps LTE-A network which launched November 2016. The network implements aggregation of B3 (1800 MHz), B7 (2600 MHz), and B20 (800 MHz).

Malaysia: Challenges of 4G

It has been more than 5 years since 4G LTE was officially rolled out in Malaysia. Today, there are six 4G LTE operators in the country and the cost of data is so much more affordable than before. The mobile operators are – Maxis, Celcom Axiata, DiGi, Webe, U Mobile and Yes. In May 2017 Celcom Axiata carried out what is claimed to be Malaysia’s first 5G trial. The test was also said to have demonstrated futuristic 5G use cases, such as robotic control, connected environment, virtual reality, Internet of Things (IoT) applications and 4K video streaming.

Although 4G technology is available 74.88% of the time to Malaysians, its speed leaves much to be desired. According to a report by OpenSignal, a company that specialises in wireless coverage mapping, the 4G speed in the country is only 14.83Mbps.

With that, OpenSignal ranks Malaysia as one of the lowest 20 countries in the list which was led by Singapore at 44.31 Mbps while India being ranked last due its 6.07 Mbps download speed.

However,  LTE availability in Malaysia was more promising. The report pointed out that the LTE connectivity in the country can be accessed 74.88% of the time throughout Q4 2017. While it is better than Algeria which occupy the bottom of the list due its 40.94% rating, Malaysia is nowhere near South Korea whereby users were able to achieve LTE connection 97.49% of the time.

According Open Signal test results regarding the highest 4G/3G download speeds and the lowest latency for both 4G and 3G among operators: Maxis comes out on top overall. 

Coming in at second place is Yes. When it comes to 4G, Yes records an incredibly high 93.18% availability followed by Maxis at 80.45%. OpenSignal notes that 4G availability isn’t a representation of geographic or population coverage, but rather how often its users are connected to a 4G network. It is worth mentioning that Yes itself runs on a pure 4G network so if it goes out of coverage, there’s no 3G or 2G network to fall back on. Yes also records the highest overall average download speed of 19.03Mbps and it isn’t surprising since its users are connected only on 4G, while other telcos have samples measured on 3G.

If we look at the rest, Celcom (16.15Mbps) takes 3rd place followed by Digi (11.77Mbps) on 4th and U Mobile (7.2Mbps) at 5th place for 4G downloads. Webe (or now known as UniFi) is ranked the lowest at 6.76Mbps. When it comes to 3G, 2nd place goes to Celcom (2.9Mbps) followed by U Mobile (2.78Mbps) and Digi (2.58Mbps).

You can read the full OpenSignal report here.

Sunrise Communications Overview

A short summary of Sunrise Communications from a presentation by Aaron Pearce

As can be seen seen in the picture above, SBB, UBS and Migros started NewtelcoAG. Then in 1997 British Telecom and Tele Danmark joined Newtelco as partners and investors and launched the Sunrise brand. Since then Sunrise has just been going from strength to strength. In 2016, Sunrise celebrated 20 years of success and was also the winner of the “connect” network test with a record score and the only provider to be awarded a rating of “OUTSTANDING.”

In fact in an Opensignal report on Switzerland last year, Sunrise won the crown for fastest download speeds while Swisscom had the best coverage.

.@Sunrise_de fastest, @Swisscom_de with best coverage in @opensignal's first report on Switzerland. https://t.co/HjR5jOPz2B pic.twitter.com/LLCXILcNDx

— tefficient 🚥 (@tefficient) May 24, 2017

In a nutshell, Sunrise is the largest private telecommunications provider in Switzerland with convergent solutions from one source as can be seen in the picture above.

Sri Lanka: Competition and Controversy

Sri Lanka is a small island nation covering approximately 66,000 km2 in the Indian Ocean, offering access to Asia and the Middle East. The majority of its 21 million people live in the rural areas; urban residents account for just 15% of total population.

Sri Lanka’s telco industry is characterized by intense competition, with mobile operators fighting for a share of the relatively small addressable population of 21 million people.

Around 45-50% of people in Sri Lanka own a mobile phone now. Although this is high in comparison to most of the developing world, the figures are low in comparison to mature markets which typically see penetration rates between 60-80%. Higher rural mobile ownership and greater smartphone ownership would be key to raising the penetration rates. An important market trends is the rising use of mobile data, with most of the usage being prepaid. Operators are increasingly designing short-term, flexible tariffs in order to promote usage amongst low-mid income customer segments

However more recently mobile penetration had risen from 96% in 2012 to 126% in 2017. Slow to moderate growth is predicted over the next five years to 2022. The market will be constrained from higher growth due to very strong local competition and a saturated mobile market.

Sri Lanka has seen a very strong increase in mobile broadband penetration over the past five years with market penetration increasing from 8% in 2012 to 21% in 2017, driven by a rising level of mobile subscribers. However, the mobile broadband market is still at an early stage of development with penetration well below most other developed Asian countries.

The development of the internet remains of particular concern for Sri Lanka. Coverage and accessibility remains limited and the sophistication of the available services generally remained low.

However the last three years in particular have seen very strong growth led by the market leader Dialog Axiata.

At end-2017 the company reported a total of 12.797 million mobile subscribers. GSMA Intelligence placing its market share at 45 per cent in Q1 2018.

The telco has pledged investment in high speed 4G and fixed LTE broadband infrastructure, as mobile LTE coverage reached 43% of the population at end-2017, while TD-LTE coverage was 53%. They also carried out a 5G' network capability trial with technology partners Ericsson and Huawei in Colombo.

Mobitel was the first service provider with a super 3.5G network in South Asia. Furthermore, Mobitel successfully demonstrated HSPA + MIMO technology with downlink speeds of up to 28.8 Mbps and carried out a successful trial of 4G/LTE technology with downlink speeds exceeding 96 Mbps, for the first time in the South Asian region. In addition, Mobitel recently launched Dual Carrier HSPA+ technology and it is now equipped with the country’s first mobile 4G/LTE equipment.

They currently have a 24 per cent market share according to GSMA Intelligence  and 6.8 million subscribers.

Ookla® has declared the National Mobile Service Provider, Mobitel, its Speedtest Award Winner for having the Fastest MobileNetwork in Sri Lanka.Mobitel dominates rival networks in the country in terms of network speed on broadband to emerge No. 1 in the industry. Mobitel 4G LTE technology offers users the superior experience of enjoying high definition streaming videos and Multimedia Online Gaming (MMOG).  Mobitel also recently enhanced its 4G LTE network coverage by innovatively deploying its existing 900MHz spectrum. This initiative is Sri Lanka’s first such deployment, thus significantly enhancing Sri Lanka’s 4G LTE coverage and LTE MIMO technology, making Mobitel the No.1 network in Sri Lanka.

A recent major development is the announcement that Hutch and Etisalat plan  to combine their Sri Lankan operations in a bid to better position them to serve customers in the country. The takeover would see the Sri Lankan market reduced to four from five mobile operators.

“This transaction is part of the stated strategy of portfolio optimisation of the Etisalat Group,” the pair said in a joint statement, adding CK Hutchison will have the majority and controlling stake in the new entity when the deal is complete.

The move will see the number three and four operators coming together.  GSMA Intelligence place the market share of the two companies as of Q1 2018:  Etisalat Lanka (13 per cent), Hutch Lanka (10 per cent).

The completion of the transaction is subject to conditions, including regulatory approvals.

Local reports state Etisalat’s ten year mobile operating licence in Sri Lanka expires in September.

Bharti Airtel Lanka a subsidiary of Bhari Airtel, they started operating in Sri Lanka in January 2009. According to their website they have invested of over $350 million in the Sri Lanka operations, and are the latest and fifth entrant to Sri Lanka’s telecom landscape. Their impact in the market includes the introduction of several innovative services, such as the lowest rates for voice services, per second billing, the lowest IDD rates, the lowest international voice and data roaming rates. With over 45,000 touched points established across the island, the company’s subscriber base has grown to 1.8million, located across all regions in the country.

For more on coverage available on these operator networks please see the Open Signal report.

Data provided by OpenSignal last month agrees with the analysis of Ookla that Mobitel is indeed the operator with fastest download speeds but latency of both 3G and 4G is much better in Dialog.

In March 2018 authorities completely shut down the internet in the district of Kandy , in response to acts of sectarian violence. The government blamed social media for spreading hate speech and calls to violence.

As far as researchers know, most of these shutdowns have occurred at the behest of government authorities, who order telecommunications companies to press the proverbial ‘kill switch.’

Telecommunications companies usually have little choice but to follow these orders. In some cases, they offer subscribers some explanation of the cut in service. But more often, they don't.

AFP news agency reported that Internet access has been stopped entirely to the Kandy district “after discovering rioters were using online messaging services like WhatsApp to coordinate attacks on Muslim properties”.

However blocking public communications networks is ill-advised at any time, and especially bad during a crisis, when people are frantically seeking situation updates or sharing information about the safety of loved ones.

Blocking selected websites or platforms is a self-defeating exercise in any case, since those who are more digitally savvy – many hate peddlers among them – will now use proxy servers to get around. It is the average web user who is deprived of news, views and updates. Such information vacuums can allow rumours to spread fast and wide.

Related Posts:

• The Global Reach of Hutchison / '3' Group Mobile Telecom Companies