Type Public (LSE: GLTD) | Website www.gtelecom.com | |
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Predecessor Orascom Telecom Holding S.A.E. Key people Anton Kudryashov CEO, Gerbrand Nijman, CFO Products Mobile networks, Internet Services Revenue US$5.065 billion (2009) Stock price ORSTF (OTCMKTS) US$ 1.83 -0.08 (-4.19%)13 Mar, 4:00 PM GMT-4 - Disclaimer Motto 'Giving the World a Voice' Parent organizations Wind Telecom, PJSC VimpelCom Founders Onsi Sawiris, Naguib Sawiris Subsidiaries Djezzy, Mobilink, Banglalink, Ooredoo Tunisia | ||
Global Telecom Holding S.A.E. (formerly Orascom Telecom Holding S.A.E.) (GTH) is an Egypt-based international telecommunications company operating GSM networks in the Middle East, Africa, Canada, and Asia. It started its operations in Egypt by launching the first Egyptian mobile operator Mobinil in 1998.
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On April 15, 2011, VimpelCom Ltd. announced the closing of the combination of VimpelCom and Global Telecom/WIND Telecom SpA. Therefore, VimpelCom will own, through WIND Telecom SpA, 51.7% of Global Telecom Holding SAE and 100% of WIND Telecomunicazioni SpA (WIND Italy) and will be the sixth largest mobile telecom provider in the world.
Global operations
From 200,000 subscribers in 1998 to more than 101 million subscribers, through its parent company Wind Telecom, Global Telecom (GTH) established itself as a global brand. Operating in eleven emerging markets, the company has a population under license of approximately 517 million with an average mobile telephony penetration of approximately 48% as of December 2010. Global Telecom operates GSM networks in Algeria (Djezzy GSM), Pakistan (Mobilink), Bangladesh (Banglalink), Burundi (Leo Burundi), DR Congo (SAIT - owned via Telecel International), Central African Republic (Telecel CAR), North Korea (Koryolink) and Zimbabwe (Telecel Zimbabwe). In 2009, the company was also awarded the management contract of one of the Lebanese mobile telecommunications operator Alfa from the government of Lebanon and introduced 3G followed by 4G-LTE connectivity. Current CEO is Marwan Hayek.
GTH formerly had operated networks in Egypt (Mobinil - sold to Orange S.A.) and Namibia (TN Mobile - nationalized by Namibian government).
The Canadian federal government approved the plan by a AAL Acquisitions Corp, an Canadian-American investment consortium, of Globalive's and the Canadian private equity firm West Face Capital, spearheaded by Tony Lacavera, to purchase struggling wireless company -Wind’s - majority shareholder Russian-Dutch VimpelCom Ltd. for $135 million. Globalive and West Face Capital assumed VimpelCom's $150 million in Wind's debt. GTH had an indirect equity ownership in Canadian mobile operator WIND Mobile Corporation which had been granted a spectrum license in Canada. With the 2014 sale, Wind Mobile was independently owned by AAL Acquisitions Corp and has no legal connection to GTH and Wind Telecom.
GSM Association
GTH established a strong presence in the GSM Association trade body that represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide. (the world's leading wireless industry representative body) only five years after its inception.
GTelecom Stock
Global Telecom is traded on the Cairo & Alexandria Stock Exchange and on the London Stock Exchange.
Other sectors
Global Telecom has other Non-GSM companies including Arpu+, Ring, and Mena Cables. It has also extended its operation into Brussels, Belgium, through subsidiaries that are researching and developing WiMax technology, the successor of current Wi-Fi wireless technology.
Wind Telecom S.p.A.
Global Telecom Holding parent company is Wind Telecom, formerly Weather Investments. Wind Telecom also owns Wind Telecomunicazioni S.p.A., the third largest mobile operator in Italy (bought May 2005).