Trends

The Panama Paper Trail: Tracking Five Years of Telecom Upheaval

Back in 2018, the Panamanian government rubber-stamped long-gestating plans to reduce the mobile market from four players to three, seeking to make better use of the country’s spectrum resources.

Despite multiple meetings, no breakthroughs were achieved, and all four operators were unwilling to concede ground.

Five years later, multiple international telecom groups have exited Panama and the authorities find themselves in the unusual position of trying to attract a new operator to fill the void.

Today, we track the key events that led to this point.

Shake-up in Hungary as Vodafone Exits

U.K.-based Vodafone Group has agreed to leave the Hungarian telecom market after more than 20 years of competing in the country’s mobile and fixed sectors.

Turkcell Unsuccessful With Iran Lawsuit

South Africa’s MTN Group has announced the end of a decade-long legal battle centered on its Iranian subsidiary, MTN Irancell.

A Passage to India: 5G Finally Arrives

The second most populous nation in the world, India, also boasts the world’s second-largest mobile market, with almost 1.15 billion subscriptions at the end of June 2022, according to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database.

The country’s mobile customers are getting access to 5G services for the first time this month following the widely anticipated launch.

Africa’s Mobile Sector: Still Room for Growth

Africa’s mobile communications market continues to grow at a steady pace. And take up shows no signs of slowing. 

Subscription numbers were up 5% in 2021, following growth of 7% the year before and 6% in 2019.

According to figures from our GlobalComms Database, at the end of 2021 the continent was home to 1.22 billion mobile subscriptions, up from 1.16 billion 12 months earlier.

How MTN Hung Up on the Middle East

Last month, it was revealed that South Africa’s MTN Group received a $31 million offer from an unnamed buyer for 100% of the shares in its Afghanistan subsidiary. The deal means that MTN is another step closer to exiting the Middle East.

Today, we take a look at how MTN set about dismantling its Middle Eastern portfolio and examine its exit strategy.

China’s New Arrival: Say Hello to Broadnet

China has a new player in the 5G mobile market.

We’re talking about China Broadnet—but it’s been around for some time, under different guises.

A Spanish Sub-Brand Squeeze Out

The last year has seen a number of well-known sub-brands withdraw from the Spanish mobile market, as telecom giants like Telefonica and Orange have sought to streamline their respective product portfolios.

Today we take a closer look at the history of these brands—and their untimely demises.

Meet the Cellcos Serving Rural America: Part 2

Welcome to Part 2 of our analysis of the regional cellular scene in the United States!

In this installment, we scrutinize some of the most interesting cellcos operating in far-flung corners of rural America.

If you missed Part 1 of our deep dive, you can catch up here.

Africell off to a Strong Start in Angola

The pan-African telecom group Africell has broken Angola’s long-standing mobile market duopoly with its launch on April 7.

If initial reports are correct, Africell has hit the ground running, attracting around two million subscriptions in its first month of operation.

 

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