Posts Tagged ‘cell phone’

Lawsuit of two mobile phone operators not solved yet

Cambodia’s leading mobile phone provider Mobitel filed a lawsuit against new mobile phone operator Beeline by accusing of using Mobitel-mobile phone prefixes without permission. Even though, this conflict does not turn into normal as what Beeline’s general director said on Monday.

Conflict between two phone operators has yet to be solved and Beeline is still the subject of a $2.5 million suit currently before Phnom Penh Municipal Court- $1.5million in damages and $1million compensation to Mobitel.

Beeline’s General Director- Gael Campan, said that the relation between the two phone operators were back to normal after Mobitel filed a lawsuit against Beeline last year.

Banks launch sell down of $421m Mobitel loan

ANZ and Standard Bank launched the sell down of a US$421 million 18-month bridging loan this week, to back the Royal Group’s acquisition of Millicom’s majority stake in Mobitel.

The loan covers the Royal Group’s November purchase of Luxembourg-based Millicom International Cellular SA’s network operations in the Kingdom for $346 million. The acquisitions included a 58.4 percent holding in Mobitel, Royal Telecom International Co Ltd and Cambodia Broadcasting Service Co Ltd.

The debt-leveraged deal is thought to have given the Royal Group 100 percent ownership of Mobitel in an agreement lead-arranged by ANZ bank.

The loan also refinances debt, including a $100 million loan arranged by International Finance Corporation in 2008. (more…)

Would-Be Critics Quiet on Telecom Rates

Financial experts here say Cambodia’s political environment has prevented them from investigating the impact of a price floor on telecoms, one of the country’s most lucrative sectors.

By Sunday, all nine mobile phone companies had raised their per-minute rates to meet a standard cost mandated by the ministries of Finance and of Telecommunications, which they said was necessary to prevent a price war.

Costs for Cambodian consumers is now $0.05 to $0.06 per minute, a jump from some of the promotional offers of newer phone companies, some as low as nothing.

Analysts say the ministerial directive is contrary to the investment law and the policies of a free economy, but they are not willing to push further to learn how it might impact consumers and the market.

“If you speak against something, you will be considered as an attacker from an opposition party,” said Chan Sophal, head of the Cambodian Economic Association, an organization of 60 economists. “The bad environment makes these intellectuals not brave enough express themselves.” (more…)

Vietnam owned mobile phone tested new 3G network

Viettel, Vietnam-owned mobile phone service provider, got started its business in Cambodia at the end of 2008, being popular amongst mobile users. The company plans to install 1,500 3G stations in the first quarter, according to the Phnom Penh Post.

Nguyen Duy Tho was quoted by the Post as saying that “currently, we are testing 3G to prepare for an official launching of this service in 2010.”

Nguyen Duy Tho gave Viettel’s ambitious targets for Cambodia in the longer term. The Vietnamese operator is aiming to capture 40 percent of the overall mobile market, 80 percent of the broadband Internet market and 80 percent of the telecoms landline market, the paper continued.

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