Fixed operator strategies - 19/11/07

Kenya Data Networks plans a $100m+ optical fiber cable project for linking the entire East Africa by next year. The cable will be linked to TEAMS (East Africa Marine Systems) undersea cable under completion.

Vodafone has bought Irish fixed-line provider Perlico, as part of its move to become an integrated telecoms provider.

Omantel would pay $204m for a 65% stake in Pakistani Worldcall.

Orange Business has won a license in Russia to provide international and national long-distance services throughout the country.

Umniah (Jordan) has launched WiMAX services covering in a first phase about 30% of the capital Amman.

IPass claims over 40k WiFi hotspots in Europe (with an average of 10k hotspots in each UK, France and Germany) and 90k worldwide.

Norway has issued five WiMAX licenses in the 2.6GHz band. Telenor is one of the winners.

EarthLink (US) may exit WiFi and consider strategic alternatives.