Archive for July 18th, 2007

SK Telecom To Buy Instaphone?

Published by Babar Bhatti on July 18, 2007 under CDMA, Emerging Markets Telecom, Foreign Investment, Investment, Telecommunications, WLL, Wireless

As the first cell phone company in Pakistan Instaphone has a unique brand presence, even thought it has been losing market share steadily. Many of the top executives at rival companies such as ufone started their careers at Instaphone. Recently I asked a question about Instaphone’s future and TM wrote on Jul 14 that: “According to unconfirmed but reliable news, South Korea’s SK Telecom and the Arfeens Telecommunication Group of Pakistan have finalized a deal in which the South Korean player will acquire 70% stakes of the Instaphone (& Telecard?) along with management control.”

Given the reliable nature of the source above, some kind of deal with SK is likely to go through. If this happens - and I hope it does - it will make the telecom situation in Pakistan a most interesting one. My only concern is that will Pakistan be able to play a good host to all the international investors? There are a number of infrastructure and political issues which can make a big difference. It will be interesting to track the stock price of Telecard.

A couple of points from TM’s post which I recommend reading in entirety.

  • In anticipation of a possible cash injection and to reduce time-to-service, Instaphone’s management had already finalized a hardware supply deal with Huawei for an all IP CDMA EvDO Rev A earlier this year.
  • Arfeen Group manages three major voice and data brands in Pakistan (Instaphone, Telecard and Supernet) with Telecard’s being listed at the Karachi Stock Exchange.
  • The last un-taken group of Arfeens Telecom represent a power-house of telecommunication with all licenses tied to a single ownership flag - from the super-duper cellular to the mundane dialup ISP license.