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Around the world in 80 seconds – We take a look at some of the biggest stories from across the global telecoms industry this past weekend
India – Reliance Jio has called on India’s telecom’s ministry to investigate Bharti Airtel, alleging that the company violated licence conditions for its Apple Watch offering. In a letter to the department of telecommunications Reliance Jio alleged that Airtel used nodes that were "outside of India… to provide Apple Watch Series 3, in gross violation to the licence terms”.
India’s hyper competitive telecoms market has seen stiff competition between its key players, as operators grapple to find a competitive edge.
Airtel has denied the allegation, which it called "frivolous".
Central America – Central America is lacking behind the rest of the Latin American region in terms of mobile broadband development, according to a new report by the GSMA.
"Closing the gap in 4G adoption in Central America requires urgent policy reform,” said Sebastián Cabello, head of Latin America, GSMA.
“This report underscores the need for governments and regulators to act quickly in reforming policies that will encourage investment and innovation and enable operators to deliver high-quality mobile broadband services to consumers and businesses across the region.”
Kenya – Bharti Airtel is planning to sell a 25 per cent stake in its Kenyan operation, and put an additional 25 per cent up for an IPO, as the international operator looks to exit from the Kenyan market.
“Mergers and acquisitions continue to be the norm for any multinational organisation and they affect all global organisations in equal measures as and when they happen,” said Airtel Africa managing director and chief executive Raghunath Mandava
Reports in the Indian press suggest that Airtel could raise as much as $1.5 billion from the sale.
Kuwait – Kuwait’s fastest growing mobile telecoms operator, VIVA, has posted a 13.9 per cent increase in revenues in the first quarter of 2018.
“Despite the high competition witnessed in the Kuwaiti Telecom Market, VIVA was able to achieve profitability and sustain the operational efficiency to ensure generating positive return to our shareholders. VIVA achieved these results due to an integrated management approach by a highly professional team that reinforces VIVA’s substantial and positive role as a leading telecommunications company that always provides intelligent communications solutions to satisfy the needs of its customers and meet their needs,” said Dr Mahmoud Ahmed Abdulrahman, VIVA’s Chairman.
