[kictanet] Fate of NOFBI - Investors attracted by Telkom Kenya’s Sh13bn real estate

Thu Oct 1 14:15:02 EAT 2015

or better still we could have it as a Parastatal /Authority with clear
performance parameters.

Best Regards

On 10/1/15, Mwendwa Kivuva <lordmwesh at gmail.com> wrote:
> Ali, Barrack, can't we just give this NOFBI to Safaricom, Zuku or Equitel
> to manage? I'm certain one if these entities can do a great job in proper
> utilisation of the resource. I'm sure Kenyans want better service,
> affordable broadband without any care who is implementing. Last mile has
> been a challenge and the government has only concentrated on district
> headquarters.
>
> And the USF...  We have made our case again and again on it's under
> utilisation or even non implementation. Probably we need to sue the USF
> board for shortchanging the under-served. Apart from two paragraphs they
> include on the annual CA reports, the USF board  stand accused of poor
> public engagement.
>
> Regards.
>
> NB: Equitel is an MVNO but it's likely they can manage NOFBI better than
> the moribund tax fleecing leech that is Telkom.
>
> On Sep 29, 2015 8:12 PM, "Barrack Otieno via kictanet" <
> kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
>>
>> Very valid question @ Kivuva. The role of NOFBI in facilitating last
>> mile connectivity cannot be understated.Governors are right when they
>> say e-procurement and e-government cannot work in areas without
>> connectivity, this are misnomers that have to be dealt with urgently.
>> It is good to note the gains we have made and awards received in ICT
>> but remain alive to the fact that Nairobi is not Kenya and Kenya is
>> not Nairobi, every part of this country deserves to be connected
>> through the National Backbone and the same should be treated as
>> Critical Infrastructure.Whats the point of developing the Critical
>> Infrastructure Bill when we have little or not control over the same ?
>>
>> Regards
>>
>> On 9/29/15, Ali Hussein via kictanet <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
> wrote:
>> > Mwendwa
>> >
>> > During the EAIGF I boldly declared (Brian Longwe’s words, not mine! :-)
> )
>> > that the Universal Access Fund in all East African countries are at
>> > best
>> > Moribund. I’m yet to be proven wrong.
>> >
>> > This is a great opportunity to revive them.. The NOFBI project will
>> > otherwise be a white elephant. More’s the pity..
>> >
>> > Thanks & Regards
>> >
>> > Ali Hussein
>> > ali at hussein.me.ke
>> >
>> > +254 713 601113
>> > Twitter: @AliHKassim
>> > Skype: Abu-Jomo
>> > LinkedIn: http//ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim
>> > Blog: www.alyhussein.com
>> >
>> >> On Sep 29, 2015, at 11:22 AM, Mwendwa Kivuva via kictanet
>> >> <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
>> >>
>> >> As Telkom Kenya through Orange auction off public resources, can we
> have
>> >> NOFBI moved from the control of this dinosaur? A lot of taxpayers
>> >> money
>> >> has gone into roll-out of NOFBI in the recent past. NOFBI has also
>> >> been
>> >> identified as a driver for Vision 2030 in the ICT masterplan.
>> >>
>> >>
> http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/Corporate-News/Investors-attracted-by-Telkom-Kenya-real-estate/-/539550/2889436/-/20jgv9/-/index.html
>> >> <
> http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/Corporate-News/Investors-attracted-by-Telkom-Kenya-real-estate/-/539550/2889436/-/20jgv9/-/index.html
>>
>> >>
>> >> Local and foreign firms fighting to take over French firm Orange’s
> stake
>> >> in Telkom Kenya are mainly eyeing the company’s Sh13 billion real
> estate
>> >> assets, a valuation report shows.
>> >>
>> >> Private equity firm Helios and UK’s British Telecom make the list of
>> >> investors who have recently expressed interest
>> >> <
> http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/Corporate-News/Helios-offers-to-buy-French-firm-stake-in-Telkom-Kenya/-/539550/2853620/-/bd661y/-/index.html
>>
>> >> in buying Orange’s 70 per cent stake in the Kenyan telecoms
> operator.The
>> >> report, which Orange prepared ahead of failed negotiations to sell the
>> >> stake to Nigerian investors, shows that land, together with frequency
>> >> spectrums and a vast fibre optic cables network, top the list of
>> >> assets
>> >> that the French firm is using to entice suitors as it prepares to exit
> the
>> >> Kenyan market.
>> >>
>> >> The Treasury, which owns a minority 30 per cent of Telkom on behalf of
> the
>> >> public and will be co-owner with the new shareholders, has been
> actively
>> >> involved in the negotiations.
>> >>
>> >> Telkom’s vast real estate wealth has never been made public and the
>> >> valuation, which was done nearly two years ago, shows that the firm
>> >> has
>> >> 335 properties priced at Sh9.4 billion.
>> >>
>> >> The majority of the pieces of land have buildings that host telephone
>> >> switches, repeaters or microwaves.
>> >>
>> >> The Investors Information report separately lists Telkom as owning
>> >> 39.1
>> >> hectares of land and real estate properties along Nairobi’s Ngong Road
>> >> with 11 residential buildings, a sports club and offices all valued at
>> >> approximately Sh4 billion.
>> >>
>> >> Telkom owns 23 per cent stake in TEAMs, a 5,000-kilometre undersea
> fibre
>> >> optic cable that links Kenya to the global internet superhighway
> through
>> >> Fujairah in the UAE.
>> >>
>> >> The company, which was sold to French firm Orange in 2007 at Sh27
> billion,
>> >> also has a 10 per cent stake in another undersea optic cable, LION2, a
>> >> 2,700-kilometre cable that connects Kenya to the global network
>> >> through
>> >> Mayotte in Mauritius, and an eight per cent stake in the East Africa
>> >> Submarine System cable.
>> >>
>> >> Telkom operates 3G, CDMA, GSM and Wimax frequencies that are critical
> to
>> >> the rollout of the increasingly important data services as the voice
>> >> market continues to shrink.
>> >>
>> >> People familiar with the ongoing buyout talks said that while real
> estate
>> >> properties and the frequencies have become key selling points for
> Telkom,
>> >> potential buyers have been going deeper and scrutinising how much of
> the
>> >> assets are not tied to the company’s heavy debt load. There has also
> been
>> >> interest in the technology Telkom is running.
>> >>
>> >> “Telkom Kenya has a rich mix of frequency spectrums and assets
> portfolio
>> >> that would attract any potential investor but sound investment
>> >> decision
>> >> goes beyond these,” our source said, adding that potential investors
> are
>> >> looking at things such as the number of active sites the company has,
>> >> revenue streams, and control of revenue leakages such as fraud on
>> >> fixed
>> >> lines.
>> >>
>> >> Curiously, the investor report does not include Telkom’s debt but
>> >> other
>> >> reports have shown that by August 31, 2014, its debt to equity ratio
> stood
>> >> at 16 – a figure that is way above the statutory limits.
>> >>
>> >> To compound matters, the two shareholders are yet to agree on how to
>> >> handle a Sh1.2 billion award that the High Court gave former employees
> who
>> >> were retrenched in 2006.
>> >>
>> >> Telkom also manages the National Optic Fibre Backbone (Nofbi), an
> inland
>> >> fibre optic cable network that runs across the district/county on
> behalf
>> >> of the government.
>> >>
>> >> ______________________
>> >> Mwendwa Kivuva, Nairobi, Kenya
>> >>
>> >> "There are some men who lift the age they inhabit, till all men walk
>> >> on
>> >> higher ground in that lifetime." - Maxwell Anderson
>> >>
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>>
>> --
>> Barrack O. Otieno
>> +254721325277
>> +254-20-2498789
>> Skype: barrack.otieno
>> http://www.otienobarrack.me.ke/
>>
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>> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform
> for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and
> regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and
> development.
>>
>> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
> online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth,
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-- 
Barrack O. Otieno
+254721325277
+254-20-2498789
Skype: barrack.otieno
http://www.otienobarrack.me.ke/