Thursday, December 27, 2007
QATAR TELECOMMUNICATIONS TO BID FOR LIBAN TELECOM
"(MENAFN) A senior official at the Qatar Telecommunications Co (Qtel) said that the company is planning to bid for a stake in one of two Lebanese mobile phone firms as part of plans to expand in the Middle East and Asia, Reuters reported.
Lebanon expects to sell majority stakes in Alfa and MTC Touch in February and offer the rest to the public to raise about $7 billion, the country's telecommunications minister
said in October.
It is worth mentioning that the Emirates Telecommunications Corp (Etisalat) had said earlier this month that it was considering a bid to take over one of the firms."
Lebanon expects to sell majority stakes in Alfa and MTC Touch in February and offer the rest to the public to raise about $7 billion, the country's telecommunications minister
said in October.
It is worth mentioning that the Emirates Telecommunications Corp (Etisalat) had said earlier this month that it was considering a bid to take over one of the firms."
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Auction of Lebanese cellular networks set for February 2008
Zawya weekly newsletter 10-16th October 2007
10 October 2007
BEIRUT: The final auction for Lebanon's two mobile networks has been scheduled for February 2008 after the regulatory authorities and concerned parties agree to technical requirements for the process, senior officials said on Tuesday. The presidents of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) and the Higher Privatization Council (HPC) told The Daily Star they have prepared the invitation for applications by companies seeking to bid for the licensing.
Interested companies will be allowed to buy two-thirds stakes in each of the cellular networks, while the government will retain a third of the shares.
The government will then issue an initial public offering (IPO) from its one-third stake in each company so the public can buy shares on the Beirut Stock ExchangeBeirut Stock Exchange.
The companies will have the rest of October and November to study the information provided by the TRA and HPC and they will be expected to present technical bids in January final ones in February.
"The information will be made public in a couple of weeks so that interested companies can get a good idea about the state of the telecom sector and the conditions for applications," HPC President Ziad Hayek said.
According to the original five-year plan submitted to the Paris III donor conference in January, the government was supposed to privatize the mobile sector in the third quarter of this year.
But the spate of assassinations and heightened tensions between the government and the opposition have apparently delayed this process.
"This government is setting the process in motion so that the next Cabinet that will be formed after the election of the president can continue the work of the previous government," Hayek said.
He stressed that the current government is not qualifying any participant and not taking any decision on the auction.
"Everything will be done through the new government and the new president of the republic," Hayek said.
Telecommunications MinisterTelecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh has said that the government hopes to fetch between $5 billion and $6 billion from the licensing of the two cellular networks.
Lebanon has a little more than 1 million mobile users who generate more than $750 million in net revenues for the government each year.
At present, MTC TouchMTC Touch and AlfaAlfa are operating the two mobile networks on behalf of the government in return for a monthly fee of $4 million each.
Hayek said that the government has the right to change any of the conditions that are in the call for bids.
He suggested, however, that it will be difficult for the next government to shelf or kill the auction process because the contracts with MTC TouchMTC Touch and AlfaAlfa are scheduled to expire in May and June of 2008.
"We have to give the two companies six-month notices before the expiry of the contracts," Hayek said.
TRA President Kamah Shehadi, told The Daily Star that the auction would be the most transparent and competitive process in Lebanon's history.
"The entire auction process will be broadcast live and in the presence of the press in order to show that we have nothing to hide," Shehadi said.
He added that between seven and eight companies have expressed keen interest in bidding for the 20-year licenses.
Shehadi said that there is no target for the privatization of the mobile sector in Lebanon.
"We have made it possible for bidders to participate in the process," he added.
Shehadi stressed that any consortium seeking to bid for the license must include an experienced mobile operator.
"This operator must acquire a minimum of 15 percent of the entire stake of each mobile network," he added.
The consortium may consist of mobile operators and financial companies.
To ensure that the public is better served, the TRA insisted that experienced mobile operators must at least manage the new companies even if they do not have majority stakes in the new licensees.
The government stressed that the proceeds of privatization will be used solely to retire part of the public debt that now exceeds $41 billion.
Officials and telecoms experts say that privatization has plenty of potential medium- and short-term benefits such as reducing cellular charges and encouraging more foreign companies to make investments in the country.
Article originally published by The Daily Star 10-Oct-07
Zawya weekly newsletter 10-16th October 2007
10 October 2007
BEIRUT: The final auction for Lebanon's two mobile networks has been scheduled for February 2008 after the regulatory authorities and concerned parties agree to technical requirements for the process, senior officials said on Tuesday. The presidents of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) and the Higher Privatization Council (HPC) told The Daily Star they have prepared the invitation for applications by companies seeking to bid for the licensing.
Interested companies will be allowed to buy two-thirds stakes in each of the cellular networks, while the government will retain a third of the shares.
The government will then issue an initial public offering (IPO) from its one-third stake in each company so the public can buy shares on the Beirut Stock ExchangeBeirut Stock Exchange.
The companies will have the rest of October and November to study the information provided by the TRA and HPC and they will be expected to present technical bids in January final ones in February.
"The information will be made public in a couple of weeks so that interested companies can get a good idea about the state of the telecom sector and the conditions for applications," HPC President Ziad Hayek said.
According to the original five-year plan submitted to the Paris III donor conference in January, the government was supposed to privatize the mobile sector in the third quarter of this year.
But the spate of assassinations and heightened tensions between the government and the opposition have apparently delayed this process.
"This government is setting the process in motion so that the next Cabinet that will be formed after the election of the president can continue the work of the previous government," Hayek said.
He stressed that the current government is not qualifying any participant and not taking any decision on the auction.
"Everything will be done through the new government and the new president of the republic," Hayek said.
Telecommunications MinisterTelecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh has said that the government hopes to fetch between $5 billion and $6 billion from the licensing of the two cellular networks.
Lebanon has a little more than 1 million mobile users who generate more than $750 million in net revenues for the government each year.
At present, MTC TouchMTC Touch and AlfaAlfa are operating the two mobile networks on behalf of the government in return for a monthly fee of $4 million each.
Hayek said that the government has the right to change any of the conditions that are in the call for bids.
He suggested, however, that it will be difficult for the next government to shelf or kill the auction process because the contracts with MTC TouchMTC Touch and AlfaAlfa are scheduled to expire in May and June of 2008.
"We have to give the two companies six-month notices before the expiry of the contracts," Hayek said.
TRA President Kamah Shehadi, told The Daily Star that the auction would be the most transparent and competitive process in Lebanon's history.
"The entire auction process will be broadcast live and in the presence of the press in order to show that we have nothing to hide," Shehadi said.
He added that between seven and eight companies have expressed keen interest in bidding for the 20-year licenses.
Shehadi said that there is no target for the privatization of the mobile sector in Lebanon.
"We have made it possible for bidders to participate in the process," he added.
Shehadi stressed that any consortium seeking to bid for the license must include an experienced mobile operator.
"This operator must acquire a minimum of 15 percent of the entire stake of each mobile network," he added.
The consortium may consist of mobile operators and financial companies.
To ensure that the public is better served, the TRA insisted that experienced mobile operators must at least manage the new companies even if they do not have majority stakes in the new licensees.
The government stressed that the proceeds of privatization will be used solely to retire part of the public debt that now exceeds $41 billion.
Officials and telecoms experts say that privatization has plenty of potential medium- and short-term benefits such as reducing cellular charges and encouraging more foreign companies to make investments in the country.
Article originally published by The Daily Star 10-Oct-07
Sunday, July 15, 2007
THE NEWSPAPER AL BALAD VINDICATES OUR VIEWS ON LIBAN TELECOM
We are proud to note that the newspaper Al Balad published on the 15/7 on page 15 of its publication a reproduction, almost word for word, of the views that we had expressed in this blog some two weeks ago on the subject of the proposed privatization/liberalization of Liban Telecom.
We have one comment to make though:
"On what grounds does Mr. Talal El Makdessi recommend an immediate privatization of 20% of Liban Telecom to be followed by a further sale of 50% after the development of this sector?"
It is not that we oppose the principle of privatization. We would like to know the economic justification behind such a move and particularly the benefits to the citizens. As we mentioned before, if Telecom is currently earning the State one billion US dollars a year, how much will it bring the State after privatization (partial or total)?
We need to see such a comparative statement.
Saturday, June 23, 2007
WHAT DO WE EXPECT FROM THE LIBERALIZATION OR THE PRIVATIZATION OF LIBAN TELECOM?
The Message of the Chairman of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) that can be accessed on the Internet at http://www.tra.org starts with these words: “The establishment of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) has begun with the appointment of the Board of Commissioners in February 2007. The TRA is a significant milestone signaling the start of the liberalization and restructuring of the Lebanese telecommunications sector, a process scheduled to take up to eight months that should be completed by the end of October 2007.”
The web site, on the whole, is very instructive and full of precious information, though some technical subjects may be sometimes hard to understand.
In the same message the Chairman also mentions that he intends, “on this website, to consult the public and stakeholders on matters related to telecommunications policy, regulations, and key decisions. “
We wish to avail ourselves of this gracious invitation and we would like to ask the Chairman to provide us with some information regarding the projected Telecom privatization process and its outcome.
Though we have read with interest about all the advantages of privatization, we notice that no specific projected values were included.We know, from the yearly reports of the Ministry of Finance, that during the period from 2004 to 2006, the revenue from the Telecom operations have been respectively, 1,310, 1456 and 1,298 billions of Lebanese pounds. These spectacular results have incited the President of the Chamber of Deputies to dub the Telecom revenues, the “black gold” of Lebanon.
Our natural reaction is to wonder if, after privatization, the same rate of returns will accrue to the State. Another concern of the citizens is about the amount of the compensation that the State expects to receive from the privatization process. Nowhere, in the TRA’s report, or in the Paris III Reform Program, is any specific figure mentioned in this respect.
Though, one naturally understands the need for confidentiality, at this stage of the tender process, the citizens are nevertheless anxious to be given some indication of the amount that their government expects to collect ultimately from the Telecom privatization process. They realize that this compensation will serve to pay up a portion of the National Debt and will, therefore, have a significant impact on the macroeconomic projections of the next five years (see our separate study on the subject of the National Debt at http://www.e4debtservice.blogspot.com.)
It is necessary to point out, at this stage, that there are widely conflicting opinions about the market value of Liban Telecom. Figures varying from two billion US dollars to as much as twenty billion US dollars are circulating among some economic circles. Other sources contend that, even if the higher price was obtainable, it might not be in the interest of the Lebanese Government to sell, at the present time.
In the interest of better transparency and accessibility, as called for by the Chairman of TRA, we believe that some simple statements should be published in the abovementioned web site of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority.These statements should include the contemplated proceeds of the liberalization of the mobile services, the broadband services and the international gateway, and the yearly State Revenues from this sector that are projected for the years following privatization.
The web site, on the whole, is very instructive and full of precious information, though some technical subjects may be sometimes hard to understand.
In the same message the Chairman also mentions that he intends, “on this website, to consult the public and stakeholders on matters related to telecommunications policy, regulations, and key decisions. “
We wish to avail ourselves of this gracious invitation and we would like to ask the Chairman to provide us with some information regarding the projected Telecom privatization process and its outcome.
Though we have read with interest about all the advantages of privatization, we notice that no specific projected values were included.We know, from the yearly reports of the Ministry of Finance, that during the period from 2004 to 2006, the revenue from the Telecom operations have been respectively, 1,310, 1456 and 1,298 billions of Lebanese pounds. These spectacular results have incited the President of the Chamber of Deputies to dub the Telecom revenues, the “black gold” of Lebanon.
Our natural reaction is to wonder if, after privatization, the same rate of returns will accrue to the State. Another concern of the citizens is about the amount of the compensation that the State expects to receive from the privatization process. Nowhere, in the TRA’s report, or in the Paris III Reform Program, is any specific figure mentioned in this respect.
Though, one naturally understands the need for confidentiality, at this stage of the tender process, the citizens are nevertheless anxious to be given some indication of the amount that their government expects to collect ultimately from the Telecom privatization process. They realize that this compensation will serve to pay up a portion of the National Debt and will, therefore, have a significant impact on the macroeconomic projections of the next five years (see our separate study on the subject of the National Debt at http://www.e4debtservice.blogspot.com.)
It is necessary to point out, at this stage, that there are widely conflicting opinions about the market value of Liban Telecom. Figures varying from two billion US dollars to as much as twenty billion US dollars are circulating among some economic circles. Other sources contend that, even if the higher price was obtainable, it might not be in the interest of the Lebanese Government to sell, at the present time.
In the interest of better transparency and accessibility, as called for by the Chairman of TRA, we believe that some simple statements should be published in the abovementioned web site of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority.These statements should include the contemplated proceeds of the liberalization of the mobile services, the broadband services and the international gateway, and the yearly State Revenues from this sector that are projected for the years following privatization.
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