Indian telecoms firm, MTNL, negotiating for a 51% stake in TelOne

L.S.M Kabweza Avatar
MTNL

MTNLMahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL), an Indian state owned telecoms firm, is reportedly considering acquiring a stake in TelOne. An Indian publication, The Economic Times revealed today that MTNL is eying a 51% stake in Zimbabwe’s sole fixed line operator.

In March this year, the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) announced that it had awarded TelOne a GSM license in 2010. TelOne effectively became Zimbabwe’s 4th GSM mobile operator. Even though the license was awarded in December last year, TelOne has basically been sitting on it, or as it appears now, using it to court investors.

A senior MTNL executive is quoted by the Economic Times:

The Zimbabwe government is keen to offload a 51% stake in TelOne, which is the country’s sole state-owned landline operator. Since TelOne also has a GSM mobile permit, it fits well with our plans to enter the African cellular turf in the near future

MTNL’s Mauritius subsidiary head, Sanjay Garg is also reported to have confirmed that discussions were ongoing with the Zimbabwean government but that the actual acquisition would only go through “after MTNL’s soon-to-be-launched GSM operation in Mauritius gains traction by the year-end.”

MTNL currently provides CDMA services in Mauritius. The CDMA network has reportedly not worked out well for MTNL with technology incompatibility seen as the reason. Apparently users that have GSM phones find it easier to subscribe to competing networks Orange Plc and Emtel. This is especially true of tourists using mobile roaming services when they visit the country.

The amount MTNL will pay for the 51% TelOne stake has not been disclosed. It’s also not clear if the government is ready to cede control of TelOne to a foreign company.

This is not the first international telco to have acquisition negotiations with TelOne. In November 2009, South African fixed line operator Telkom was reportedly interested in acquiring a 49% stake in the company and at one point TelOne confirmed the negotiations were at a “very advanced stage”.

African mobile giant MTN, has also been in negotiations with another Zimbabwean state owned telecoms firm, NetOne, and is said to be seeking to acquire a 51% stake. The interest in a getting a controlling stake is what has been reported to be stalling the negotiations.

We have sent some questions to TelOne and we will post an update when we get a response.

4 comments

  1. JamesM

    Our government is simply broke, they have no money and offloading their stake in TelOne will bring them a bit of cashola they desperately need. Like it or not they are in a weak bargaining position on the negotiating table. It’s simple for them, sell the stake take the cashola and run for the door!
    On a different note, I wonder if Africom ends-up regretting the decision to go with CDMA rather than a GSM network. The country as well as the region is swamped with GSM networks and purchasing a CDMA phone which may be rendered useless on a trip to a neighbouring country is a reality that may dampen sales of Africom phones. I definitely wish them well as one of a few pioneering companies in Zim. Let’s see how this plays out.

  2. Bachiko

    When I thought all companies should be at-least 51% indigenous.

  3. Anonymous

    been to these guys’ website, a lot of services but the site is pathetic to say the least l hope their service is different…

  4. Tinashe Manzou

    CDMA is a huge problem. Just look at Verizon in the states, most of the world is GSM so now those telecom operators are stuck when it comes to growth acquisitions. 

    Any idea how much the NetOne acquisition is worth? Guesses?

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