Telecom Egypt and St Helena Government (SHG) have signed an agreement to connect the Island to Telecom Egypt’s subsea system over the Equiano submarine cable system. Telecom Egypt will be the first to provide St Helena with a fibre optic connection to the rest of the world, which is a crucial step towards the Island’s economic growth. The cable, along with the associated high-speed internet, is planned to be delivered to the Island by early 2022.
stc announced the company’s preliminary financial results for the period ending at 30 September 2020. The highlights include:
Ooredoo Group announced a strong set of financial results despite macroeconomic weakness in some of their markets. The Doha-based company said its net profit increased by 16%to QAR 1.47 billion in the first nine months to 30 September from QAR 1.26 billion in the same period in 2019 in a more favorable foreign exchange environment.
Revenue declined by 3 percent year-on-year to QAR 21.41 billion from QAR 21.96 billion because of COVID-19, with a reduction in handset sales and roaming business. This was partially offset by growth in Indonesia. 
Commenting on the results, Sheikh Faisal Bin Thani Al Thani, Chairman of Ooredoo, said: “Ooredoo Group has been fortunate to have a well-diversified business – across geography and customer composition – in addition to a strong balance sheet, which has helped us maintain resilience during these challenging times.”
Data revenues accounted for more than 50% of total revenue, supported by data leadership and digital transformation initiatives in the countries where Ooredoo operates. EBITDA declined by 4 percent year-on-year to QAR 9.2 billion from QAR 9.66 billion in 2019, hit by lower revenues and higher cost of sale as well as challenging market conditions in Algeria, Kuwait, Iraq and Oman.
The company maintains its focus on digitalization and cost optimization, which is reflected in the EBITDA margin of 43 percent, compared with 44 percent in 2019.
Ooredoo Qatar
Ooredoo Qatar revenue reached QAR 5.3 billion in the first nine months to 30 September compared with QAR 5.4 billion in the same period of 2019. EBITDA stood at QAR 2.9 billion compared with QAR 3.0 billion in 2019. The customer base rose by 2.7 percent year on year to 3.3 million, with mobile customers growing by 3.2 percent, and the postpaid customer base up by 2.8 percent. The EBITDA margin sustained its positive trend at 55 percent compared with 56 percent in 2019.
Ooredoo Oman
Lockdowns and movement restrictions also impacted Ooredoo Oman’s results for the period. Revenues declined 5% to QAR 1.9 billion compared to the same period last year, due to a reduction in mobile revenues. Consequently, EBITDA for the period declined 9% to QAR 1.0 billion compared to the same period last year.
Ooredoo Kuwait
Ooredoo Kuwait group revenues decreased by 6 percent to KWD 155.4 million for the first nine months to 30 September from KWD 169.7 million in the same period of 2019. EBITDA dropped by 13 percent to KWD 40.6 million from KWD 53.1 million for the same period in 2019. Net profit decreased by 75 percent to KWD 5.9 million from KWD 23.5 million in 2019, due to the decline in EBITDA.
stc and Rakuten Mobile announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the aim of collaborating in the field of innovation and strategic mobile technology. The two companies will explore future opportunities to collaborate in various technology domains, including, fully autonomous digital platform serving telecommunication cloud network, OpenRAN deployment options for greenfield and brownfield use-cases, operating models and business value realization.
MTN Group has released its quarterly update for the period ended 30 September 2020, highlighting that the total number of subscribers across its 21 markets of operation totaled 273.4 million, a net increase of 12 million, as service revenue increased by 11.4% on an annualized basis.
The Consortium of the main Saudi telecom carriers, Etihad Etisalat (Mobily) and Integrated Telecom Company (ITC) signed the agreement of the Saudi National Fiber Network (SNFN) modernization project with their partner Huawei. By building the first 5G and B2B-driven, ultra-broadband optical backbone network in the Middle East, the SNFN project will contribute to the end-to-end network transformation and agile automation strategy as part of the 2030 Vision of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Telecom Egypt, Egypt’s first integrated telecom operator and one of the largest subsea cables operators in the region, announces that it is building Egypt's largest international data center facility. Expected to be commissioned in early 2021 with access to all the global submarine cable systems that land in Egypt, the new data center is going to be the first in the country with the Uptime Institute's certifications in the Design, Constructed Facility, and Operational Sustainability categories. In spite of the COVID-19 pandemic and its repercussions on the economy, the construction of the new facility has not been affected and is moving according to plan. The facility has also been granted the Tier III Certification of Design from the Uptime Institute a few months ago after a rigorous assessment of all aspects of the data center and its operations.
Zain KSA has announced signing an exclusive partnership agreement with OSN, through which would enable its mobile and fiber (FTTH) customers to enjoy complimentary access to the OSN streaming application.
Etisalat Group has announced its financial results for the third quarter of 2020, boasting a 6% increase in consolidated net profit.
Following reports last month that Telecom Egypt and Vodafone Egypt had both made bids for new spectrum in the 2600MHz band, local press reports are now claiming that Orange Egypt and Etisalat Misr have officially requested additional frequencies being offered by the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA).
