Three-year, multi-million dollar agreement for MTC Kuwait’s growing telecoms infrastructure

Motorola, Inc. (NYSE:MOT) today announced a three-year managed optimization services agreement with MTC (Mobile Telecommunications Company) Kuwait, an MTC Group Operation, to improve the performance of operator’s network across its serving area.

The multi-million dollar contract, which covers the ongoing enhancement of the telecom network, will enable MTC Kuwait to continue to deliver high quality service to its ever-growing number of subscribers and satisfy their increasing demands for new value-added services. A portion of the revenue on this contract was recognized by Motorola in the second quarter of 2006.

Motorola’s managed optimization service, which utilizes market-leading tools and actual user data, provides an innovative and proven alternative to traditional optimization methods and helps to improve performance in a single or multi-vendor environment, while ensuring that the network operates at peak performance. Motorola’s experienced, best-in-class professionals and technology enable service providers to maximize their infrastructure investment and allow them to dedicate themselves to their core business objectives.

“If MTC is to continue its phenomenal rate of growth, our focus must be on ensuring that our infrastructure continues to evolve to effectively meet business and customer demand. We trust that Motorola’s standards-compliant infrastructure, knowledgeable resources and clear operational processes will help us meet the objectives of our 3x3x3 strategy that aims to make MTC a global player in three stages: regional, international and global, with each stage completed in three years. Motorola’s managed optimization services offering gives a framework to benchmark our performance and stay current with global telecoms technology while lowering our risk,” said Mr. Barrak Al Sabeeh, general manager of MTC Kuwait.

Relying on Motorola’s managed services is an integral part of MTC’s wider plan to create and roll out new offerings to their customers in the 21 operations across the Middle East and Africa, and devote staff resources to customer service. Under the agreement, Motorola will lend its proven network optimization services expertise as well as its first hand knowledge of networking technologies in the Middle East market to ensure the optimal performance of the MTC Kuwait network on an ongoing basis.

“Increasingly, telecoms operators in the Middle East North Africa region are considering managed services for both the reduction in operating costs, and the continuity and availability of resources that this offering delivers. MTC Kuwait is among the Middle East’s most aggressive operators and clearly saw the financial and strategic advantages that a long-term managed services agreement with Motorola would produce,” said Ali Amer, senior director sales, Motorola Networks & Enterprise, Middle East North Africa and Pakistan (MENAPAK).

The three-year new managed optimization services contract complements Motorola’s twelve-year relationship with MTC, which helped the operator achieve a range of regional landmarks including the first GPRS network and connecting the inaugural UMTS point-to-point video and voice calls across a live air connection. Motorola’s GPRS core network technology services customers in MTC’s operations in Kuwait, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq.

New reports are emerging that China Mobile is in place to buy Millicom International Cellular (MIC), after South African operator MTN yesterday announced a surprise agreement to acquire Dubai based telecoms investor Investcom for $5.53bn (ВЈ3bn).

As a result of the agreement MTN’s subscriber base would increase to 28.1 million across 21 countries, making it the second biggest mobile operator in the region, behind Egypt’s Orascom Telecom.

Investcom also said it had withdrawn its offer to buy MIC, which has been on sale since January. The news will come as a blow to MIC, with reports indicating Investcom had tabled a leading $5bn offer for the company.

Other bidders in the running for MIC are believed to have placed offers well under $5bn, and China Mobile has been named as a bidding party once again, despite denying interest.

Late last month, the leading Chinese operator denied that it, or its parent, had made a bid for MIC.

Other interested parties are thought to be Egypt’s Orascom, Kuwait’s MTC, Norway’s Telenor and Mexico’s America Movil.

Leading Chinese operator, China Mobile, on Thursday rebuked reports that it has tabled a $4bn (ВЈ2.2bn) bid for Millicom International Cellular (MIC).

The buzz was generated by a report in the Financial Times on Wednesday, which put China Mobile in the frame but did not name sources.

The deadline for the second round of bids for Millicom is expected to expire in the next few days, after the company’s call for acquisition offers in January.

The most likely bidders in the second round are thought to be Egypt’s Orascom, Dubai’s Investcom, Kuwait’s MTC, Norway’s Telenor and Mexico’s America Movil. Vodafone is believed to have lost interest in Millicom.

The China Mobile spokesman did confirm that the operator is looking to acquire assets in emerging markets.

Millicom has operations in Southeast and south Asia, Central America, South America and Africa.