Turkish operator seeks to acquire mobile operations in four markets
Turkey’s largest mobile telephony operator Turkcell is looking to appoint a strategic and financial adviser to explore the possibility to fully acquire holding company Fintur, in which the Turkish operator currently holds a 41.45% stake.
Swedish telecom operator TeliaSonera owns the remaining 58.55%. The Nordic telecom operator is also one of Turkcell’s major shareholders. The mobile operators the Turkish telco is considering buying are K’cell, Azercell, Geocell and Moldcell in Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Moldova, respectively.
The news follows TeliaSonera’s announcement that it has kicked off a process to reduce its presence in Eurasia as the service provider aims to focus on its European and Swedish operations.
TeliaSonera’s Eurasia region includes operations in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Nepal, Georgia and Moldova. In the second quarter of 2015, TeliaSonera generated revenue of 5.74 billion kronor ($695 million) in Eurasia, representing 21.2% of the telco’s overall revenue in the period.
TeliaSonera ended Q2 with a total of 40.18 million mobile subscribers across its business in Eurasia, up 2.1% from the same period in 2014.
Huawei wins IT contract with Ooredoo Kuwait
The Chinese ICT provider has won a five-year IT contract with Ooredoo Kuwait. Under the terms of the agreement, Huawei will provide managed IT and network operations, network performance management and service quality improvement for Ooredoo Kuwait. The Chinese firm will provide an ICT Converged Operation solution to manage IT and telecom equipment through converged operation processes, resources and tools.
“This project will accelerate the speed of our response to the market, improve network performance and quality of service, and enhance the end-user experience,” Ooredoo’s CIO Stephane Flamme said.
To date, Huawei has accumulated more than 40 ITO contracts, serving over 20 operators in more than 20 countries.
