UAE's Etisalat may revive talks to sell Sudanese unit

Etisalat could resurrect talks to sell its Sudanese telecom arm Canar to Kuwait's Zain , as both sides remain keen on a deal despite a breakdown in negotiations earlier this year, a source close to the matter said.

Zain Sudan is the African country's No.1 mobile company. Buying Canar - the top fixed-line carrier - would be in line with Zain's broader strategy, as outlined by chief executive Scott Gegenheimer in October, of moving beyond mobile to provide bundled services to corporates and individuals.

Etisalat took an impairment of 459 million dirhams ($125 million) against Canar in 2012 and may be eager to sell what is a peripheral investment for the United Arab Emirates' firm.

"The deal fell apart at the last moment," the source said, declining to be identified because the talks were not public.

Negotiations collapsed around the start of 2013, the source said, with Etisalat thought to have backed out because it believed other parties might consider buying Canar and so hoped to get a better price for its subsidiary.

Zain remains interested in acquiring Canar, while Etisalat was still a likely seller, the source said, describing a deal as "a win-win situation" for both parties.

Etisalat did not respond to requests for comment and Zain declined to comment.

Zain's 11.95 million subscribers gave it a 44 percent share of Sudan's mobile market and $470 million of revenue in the nine months to Sept. 30. Canar had 316,770 subscribers as of March 31, data from the country's telecom regulator shows.

Etisalat does not provide financial information on Canar, but its consortium paid 45 million euros forSudan's second fixed-line licence in 2004 and the UAE firm later paid around $276 million to up its stake to 89 percent from 37 percent.

This was part of Etisalat's rapid expansion last decade as it sought to offset the loss of its domestic monopoly, but few of its estimated $12.6 billion of foreign investments have paid off and in recent years it withdrew from India and sold most of its stake in Indonesia's PT XL Axiata.

In November, Etisalat agreed to buy a controlling stake in Maroc Telecom for $5.7 billion, but analysts see little point in the UAE firm retaining interests in minor players such as Canar, especially after the Sudanese pound fell by about half against the dollar following South Sudan's succession in 2011.

Canar hoped to obtain a mobile licence, its chief executive told Reuters in 2008, but never did so and just 1 percent of Sudanese had a fixed-line telephone connection at the end of 2012, according toEtisalat's annual report.

Canar's network covers 31 percent of Sudan's populatio

Kuwait's Wataniya hires former Batelco chief as COO

Kuwait's No. 2 telecom operator Wataniya has named Peter Kaliaropoulos as chief operating officer.

Kuwait's No. 2 telecom operator Wataniya has named Peter Kaliaropoulos as chief operating officer, six months after the Australian left regional rival Batelco.

His appointment follows that of Abdulaziz Fakhroo as chief executive in March as Wataniya - 92 percent-owned by Qatar's Ooredoo - tries to halt a sustained earnings slump. The Kuwaiti firm's profits fell in six of the past seven quarters.

Wataniya, which also has operations in Algeria, Tunisia, the Maldives and the Palestinian Territories, did not make a formal statement to the media announcing Kaliaropoulos's appointment, but he is now listed on the company's website as among its senior management team.

Kaliaropoulos left Batelco - formally called Bahrain Telecommunications Co - in June after eight years, his roles having included CEO and chief operating officer.

Saudi's SABIC opens $100m tech centre in India

SABIC headquarters.

Petrochemicals giant Saudi Arabian Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) has set up a $100m technology centre in India.

Prince Saud bin Abdullah bin Thenayan Al-Saud, chairman of SABIC, officially opened the company's state-of-the-art facility in Bengaluru.

The centre is one of 17 SABIC global R&D hubs of excellence and is home to more than 300 scientists from India, described by SABIC as "a critical mass of some of the best and brightest talent from this vibrant country".

Prince Saud said: "We are extremely proud to be here, in a city that is a world-renowned centre for technology in India.

"Saudi Arabia and India have a long history of deep relationships. We believe in the future of India - a rapidly developing nation where partnership and inclusive development is a priority. India is an important market for us in Asia, which is why our investment here is significant."

Mohamed Al-Mady, SABIC's vice chairman and CEO, added: "This major centre in Bengaluru is an integral part of our global R&D strategy. In this centre the scientists here are carrying out cutting-edge research into new platforms for next-generation materials across industry sectors.

"Other initiatives include designing greener building materials to reduce environmental footprints and developing eco-friendly products in response to global megatrends and needs."

Alongside another technology centre slated to open in China later this month, the Bengaluru facility builds on SABIC's two existing dedicated application centres in the region - one in Moka, Japan, and the other in Sungnam, South Korea.

Bahrain's Batelco fails to win approval for Seychelles deal

(Photo for illustrative purposes only)

Bahrain-based Batelco Group on Monday announced that its acquisition of Cable & Wireless (Seychelles) has not received regulatory approval.

Chairman Shaikh Hamad bin Abdulla Al Khalifa said that required approvals had not been provided by the Government of Seychelles to proceed with the acquisition.

"We will continue to focus on developing our current businesses including the companies acquired in April 2013. We are already seeing positive results and look forward to promising results in the future."

In April, Batelco Group announced the finalisation of its acquisition of various companies from Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC), which comprise its Monaco and Islands Division.

Batelco acquired the entire CWC interest in Dhiraagu (Maldives), Sure Channel Islands and Isle of Man and CWC operations in Falkland Islands, St Helena, Ascension and Diego Garcia.

Batelco also acquired 25 percent shareholding in Compagnie Monégasque de Communications, which holds CWC's 55 percent interest in Monaco Telecom.

Total consideration paid for these assets was $570m, a statement said.

Kuwait's Zain says not interested in Sudanese telco Canar

Kuwaiti telecoms company Zain said on Tuesday it would not enter negotiations to buy Sudanese fixed-line operator Canar.

Zain's statement follows a Reuters report on Monday in which a source close to the matter said United Arab Emirates' Etisalat could resurrect talks to sell its Sudanese subsidiary Canar to Zain.

Etisalat broke off talks earlier this year, but both it and Zain were still keen on a deal, the source had said.

On Tuesday, Zain said in an emailed statement: "Zain has no intention to enter into negotiations withEtisalat's telecom arm in Sudan."

Zain Sudan is the African country's No.1 mobile company, while Canar - 89 percent owned by Etisalat - is the top fixed-line operator

Where will social media be in 2015?

Karl Young predicts what the future of social media will look like in the next two years...

It is hard to believe that only 32.77 percent of the world’s population has regular access to the internet. Considering that ten years ago only 12.5 percent were online, a lot has changed and it is reflecting in our day-to-day activities.

In the age of mobile technology, social media has become much more than a platform for basic communication; it has become ingrained into users’ everyday lives. People are online at all hours of the day, and with social media becoming the last thing people check before they go to bed and the first thing they check when they wake up, it has become a powerful force.

Users are sharing breaking news, stories, experiences, reviews, photos and videos more frequently and faster than ever before – with over 100 hours of video footage loaded onto YouTube every minute its clear to see that we have not only grown to adore the power of the internet but it has been integrated into our buyer behaviour, making it a powerful tool for brands and businesses.

The boom is not yet over, in this year alone China is predicted to see a 140 million rise in internet users, triggering great e-commerce growth and users on social platforms. Recently China leapfrogged America to become the biggest trading nation in the world.  As economies evolve and populations keep rising, living standards and access to the World Wide Web should inevitably increase. With this in mind, social media will receive an increased amount of visitor’s year on year.

What does that mean for existing users and how will it evolve to cope with increased demand and cultural differences and sensitivities?

Search Engines

The way we search and access information is constantly changing, search engine algorithms provide the most relevant searches for queries based on complex mathematical equations.  Google, Baidu and Yandex are three of the biggest search engines in the world, the way they enable us to search directly effects social media.

Google regularly alters its algorithms, changing the way we search and filtering out old/bad results. The Penguin and Panda updates released by Google penalised website for having too many links with aggressive exact match anchor text, duplicate content, keyword stuffing and more.

So why is this relevant to social? Social media is one of the factors Google takes into consideration when ranking a website in the search engine results page. If a website like ‘hotcrossbunsandjam.co.uk’ had the same seo profile as ‘hotcrossbunsandchocolate.co.uk’ but one had more interaction with social media, Google would take preference on the website that has made the effort socially.

With that in mind, it isn’t hard to imagination that Google might be planning an algorithm update around bad social media practices. As social media is becoming an ever increasing factor in rankings, we could see something put in place by 2015 to stop businesses buying Facebook ‘likes’ and ‘shares’ to increase their social profile.

Black-hat tricks that increase a business’s social score probably won’t be the only thing to be hit, unnatural shares may be targeted to stop spammers from pushing out the same messages via different accounts across medias.

Having a cleaner and spam free social platform should help businesses and user experience improve significantly

Diversification & Features

As more cultures dive onto the Worldwide Web we could see social platforms change the way users interact based on laws and preferences in different counties.  A great example of this is in Japan where Twitter added a new feature called ‘lifeline’.  Japan was the first region in the world to receive a service that suggests which official government Twitter accounts should be followed if a disaster hits. The idea was sprung after last year’s earthquake and Tsunami, proving that features for different cultures will become more prevalent in social media by 2015.

As the big social media platforms become more and more popular around the world we could start to see different services appearing, like Facebook’s business networking features in Japan. LinkedIn in the country has been unable to grab a foothold on the business community. Facebook however has become the preferred social network among job hunters and university graduates.

With opportunities around the world for social sites to gain ground in current or new areas of communication, it’s likely that media which takes risks in expansion will benefit greatly as countries establish their online communities.  In India and Brazil, opportunities for social networks to monopolise the emerging markets can’t be ignored.

One change that could enhance Twitter and Facebook is the introduction of ‘tribes’. As social media is one of the biggest ways we consume news, often the first place we go to consume it, the development of tribes could help users control their news feeds.  Google+ has led the way in terms of grouping contacts, Facebook and Twitter could help users divide friends, colleagues and acquaintances. Streamlining feeds could provide greater social interactions.

User Control

By 2015 social users could be given more access to their preferences, not only within their news feeds or social groups but with themes, features and apps.  Bridging the gap between having a blog and a social media account could provide businesses and regular users with a greater experience, giving them the power to add personal touches to their accounts.

Facebook could constantly display news in a separate feed from feeds we have an interest in, like sport or music.

Bringing in better integration between social media and other websites could help businesses attract customers towards their products/services and offer users smarter and more update information.

Unlocking social media dashboards could be the key to better usability; however for such a large audience could it be achieved? MySpace offers profiles that are compatible to your pretences, giving you the ability to change the look and feature on a single page. Did we get bored of the platform or personalising our preferences?

Either way it’s foreseeable that Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn could be looking at Myspace as a way of moving forward into 2015..

‘Poor negotiation’: Recent IMF loan deal will hurt us in the future, say experts

Government officials said that they had no option but to accept the IMF’s conditions which eventually seek a cut in development projects. PHOTO: FILE

LAHORE: 

For a developing country like Pakistan, the focus needs to be on growth and development in order to create a better infrastructure, which should ultimately increase economic opportunities. Unfortunately, the government’s current focus is on stabilising the economy, which could possibly lead to employment problems for university graduates.

Our economic managers are, however, bound to use this stabilisation model, as the recent loan agreement between the Pakistan government and the International Monitory Fund (IMF) was meant to take the economy out of its crisis and not for economic growth, said economists at a seminar “Alternate Economics –Building the Future of Pakistan.

Criticising the 15th loan agreement, Asad Zaman, an economist, said that the IMF lent Pakistan government money because they felt that the country was likely to default and would be unable to pay its import bill. “If we suppose, for a moment, that Pakistan defaults, then it will only hurt the 1% elite of society, while the rest will never suffer,” said Zaman.

“This is the time for self reliance, we have brilliant brains, huge resources, we only need a little support from the government. The rest can be done by Pakistanis to lessen imports. There is a huge difference between urgent and important and the government needs to understand this distinction.”

Zafar Iqbal, a chartered accountant by profession, criticised the IMF deal, saying that Pakistan was unable to negotiate and failed to convince the body over sanctioning the loan for growth purposes.

The $6.7 billion loan is not meant for growth, which will adversely impact the different segments of our economy. Government officials said that they had no option but to accept the IMF’s  conditions which eventually wants Pakistan to cut down on development projects, bring agriculture sector under the tax network, remove subsidies, increase electricity, gas tariffs, devalue Pak rupee, privatisation of bleeding state own enterprises.

“Our population is growing at 3.2% per annum,” said Iqbal. “Fifty percent of our population is under 20 years of age. What would be the situation if money was not injected in different infrastructure and industrial development schemes right now?

Meanwhile, professor Waqar Haider, who heads the research and development department at the Comsats Institute of Information and Technology, said the country needed indigenous development.

“Pakistan is heavily relaying on imports and is not working on indigenous development,” said Haider. “If Pakistan is self-sufficient in its defence by producing different missiles and drones then why cannot it apply its talent in other sectors of the economy?

“Currently very few people in different industrial clusters are working with this approach. But what they create often does not meet international standards, as our scientists and engineers do not cooperate with them.”

All experts also stressed on quality education, without which the country’s society would remain ‘in a mess’.