Page 36 - 2012 Annual Report

VIVENDI l 2012 l Annual Report 36
GROUP PROFILE – BUSINESSES – LITIGATION – RISK FACTORS 1
1
SECTION 2 - BUSINESSES
MAROC TELECOM
Gabon Télécom offers individuals, companies and government fixed
telephony services (voice and data) and Internet access.
It is the only national fixed-line operator in Gabon, in contrast with the
Internet and VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminal) markets in which
other access suppliers operate. At year-end 2012, its network totaled
18,000 fixed lines (wired and CDMA), down 20% due to upgrade works
to increase the reliability of its CDMA network that occurred at the
beginning of the year. The penetration rate of fixed telephony in proportion
to the population remains low, reaching only 1.2% at September 30, 2012
(source: Dataxis).
Gabon Télécom also offers Internet access via its wire network (particularly
ADSL high speed) and its CDMA network. At year-end December 2012,
it had nearly 8,000 Internet subscribers (down 67%, due to upgrade works
to increase the reliability of its CDMA network).
As of September 30, 2012, the Gabonese market had 2.5 million mobile
customers (commercial customers). This figure represents a penetration
rate of 164%, up eight percentage points year-on-year. Despite this very
high rate, mobile market growth remains very strong, with an increase
in the total base of 16% in one year. Four operators are competing on
2G networks: Gabon Télécom, Airtel (ex Zain), Moov and Azur (network
launched in mid-2009). In 2012, Gabon Télécom strengthened its number-
two spot with a market share of 32% at the end of September 2012
(+9.4 percentage points year-on-year). As of December 31, 2012, its
mobile customer base had 777,000 customers, almost all prepaid (+46%).
This strong increase is due both to increased promotional offers and
improvement in the quality of service. Gabon Télécom continued in 2012
to increase the density of its mobile network, with the commissioning of
52 antennas, bringing their total number to 334.
In 2010, a bid for tenders was launched to award 3G licenses, but it has
been unsuccessful up until now.
2.5.3.4. SOTELMA
The Maroc Telecom Group holds a 51% interest in Sotelma, Mali’s
incumbent telecommunications operator.
Sotelma provides fixed telephony services (voice and data) as well as
Internet access to individuals, companies and government services.
It is the largest operator in the fixed-line market with a market share
close to 100%. At year-end 2012, it had 98,000 fixed lines (up 4.8%), due
in particular to the development of CDMA technology, which makes it
possible to cover territory quickly at a lower cost. The penetration rate of
fixed telephony in proportion to the population remains low, reaching only
0.6% in September 2012 (source: market data). The operator deploys an
ADSL network over its fixed lines, with which it can market its broadband
Internet offers. It also offers Internet access via its CDMA network.
At year-end 2012, Sotelma had nearly 45,000 Internet subscribers
representing an increase of 20.5%.
As of September 30, 2012, the Malian market had grown considerably
(+13.3 percentage points year-on-year). It has 13.2 million mobile
customers, with a penetration rate of 89.4%. The two mobile operators
active in Mali are Sotelma and Orange, which have both 2G and 3G
licenses. On February 12, 2013, a third license was awarded to the Alpha
Telecom consortium.
At year-end 2012, despite the conflict in the country, the Sotelma mobile
customer base stood at 6 million customers (almost all prepaid). The
annual growth of 38% was achieved through significant investments to
expand network coverage to new locations and increase density in large
cities. 126 new relay antennas were also installed (for a new total of
1,020 units) and an intense marketing campaign was conducted at the
same time. These efforts have been rewarded as the market share of
the operator reached 45.4% at the end of September 2012, compared to
40.4% at year-end 2011.
2.5.4. 2012 Highlights
✱ In January, Maroc Telecom launched “ l’Heure Jawal tout temps”,
which gives prepaid customers the ability to call one hour to
all domestic destinations 24 hours a day, seven days a week,
for a DH 29 subscription.
✱ In February, the operator overhauled its reloading system for “ Jawal
Classique” (prepaid offer billed in 20-second increments after the
first full minute), “ Jawal Thaniya” (prepaid offer billed by the second)
and its capped packages. It introduced the permanent double/triple
reloading except during promotion periods and triple/quintuple
reloading during promotion periods.
✱ In March, Maroc Telecom enriched the content of its packages
from one to two or five additional hours depending on their original
duration.
✱ In April, Maroc Telecom doubled ADSL, MT DUO (double play) and
MTBox (triple-play) Internet speeds at no extra cost. For all ADSL
customers, the lowest available speed increased to 4 Mb/s, at a rate
of DH 99.
✱ That same month, Maroc Telecom launched a new range of no-
terminal mobile packages, with a reduction of DH 25 to DH 35/month
to the monthly subscription rate.
✱ Also in April, the Loukkos undersea cable linking Asilah, Morocco
to Seville, Spain was commissioned, increasing Maroc Telecom’s
international bandwidth to 160 Gbits/s.
✱ In May, the price of calls from fixed lines fell as much as 83% and the
rate to domestic fixed and mobile numbers and to major international
destinations was rounded down to DH1 for 2 minutes.
✱ In August, Maroc Telecom launched quintuple reloads for all reloads
of DH 5 to DH 30 and septuple reloads for reloads of DH 50 and over.
✱ In October, regulators prohibited mobile operators from selling pre-
activated SIM cards.