January 5, 2011
By Tim Johnston
Financial Times
Smart Mobile and Star-Cell, two of Cambodia’s larger mobile telephone operators, have formalised their merger, the first of what is expected to be a wave of consolidation in one of the world’s most crowded telecoms markets.
The new company, to be called Smart Mobile, will be 75 per cent owned by Cyprus-based Timeturns Holdings Ltd and 25 per cent by a subsidiary of Sweden’s TeliaSonera, Star-Cell’s parent.
“There are truly too many (operators). Therefore, market consolidation should take place and we have taken a pioneering step,” Thomas Hundt, CEO of Timeturns’ Latelz Co. Ltd, which will run Smart Mobile, told a news conference.
Before the merger, Cambodia’s 15m citizens were a faced with a startling choice of 9 different mobile operators. The competition was great for consumers – Cambodia has some of the lowest rates in the world – but it created a brutal environment for operators: the average return per user (ARPU) was just $5.27 in 2009, according to Research and Markets, a market research database.
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