I just received an internal Fasstelco memo (which I can’t share) announcing that Ooredoo will be purchasing 100% of their shares. The memo doesn’t go into much detail on what will become of Fasttelco, if they will continue to be run as a separate entity and keep their brand or if they’ll be merged under Ooredoo which is what I think will most likely happen.
Ooredoo customers are probably going to benefit the most out of this since to my understanding all the telecom operators get their internet from the internet providers. By becoming an internet provider themselves, they can reduce their costs or offer more speed and bandwidth for the same price. Ooredoo just became a lot more interesting.
28 replies on “Ooredoo Buying Fasttelco”
Zainnn wallah.. I mean gooood! 🙂
happened before with zain and qualitynet if i am not mistaking it didn’t went through because of legality issue about the two business
Zain we’re talks and they stopped because quialitynet is shared with batelco in Bahrain so they didn’t sell to them. This is a done deal.
And FYI, Zain acquired mada.
didn’t know that. source?
https://mymada.com/about/
I switched from Zain to Ooredoo and back to Zain now. I’m happy the way things are being with Zain..thank you!
Ooreedoo 4G sucks!!!! I may switch to Zain 🙁
Here you go, https://alqabas.com/9053/
-Fasttelco – Ooredoo – Qatar
-Qualitynet – Batelco – Bahrain
Well, according to that article, Fastleco is only worth 11 million, which is nothing for Oreedo. They only made 763,000 KD in 2015. Wow, no wonder Fastelco ended up selling their company. They weren’t making shit!
How did Fasttelco get sold for 11 million and Q8 Flowers for 1. If Q8 Flowers is worth 1 mil then Fasttelco should be worth A LOT more than 11.
I know what you mean, but you have to look at them as two totally different things just like how facebook is worth 80 billion dollars and Qatar Airways is worth 19 Billion.
Two different types of companies which grow differently
That’s not the same comparison i was making. who uses q8flowers? nobody.
But it has more potential for profit with a very small operating fee. ISPs pay a ridiculous amount of money to operate. A site like Q8 flowers will grow into the talabat of gifts and flowers and it will cost nothing compared to an ISP. With the GSM operators its a different story. Because they are not charged per customer. Whereas ISPs are. They pay fees for MOC for each customer and each port. The biggest gain that ooredoo will get from this deal is the ability to purchase internet directly from outside service providers which in Kuwait is only permitted for companies who hold an ISP License. There are only 5 companies in Kuwait and fasttelco is one of them. That and the ability to become closer to users home and bundle more packages like Rogers in Canada. So basically they paid 11 million for a license. Kuwait is one of the very very few countries where you have dedicated internet service providers which are separate from GSM providers. Du in UAE even offer TV packages.
i do, regularly :p
Anyone who has a mother, sister, friend, wife, girlfriend.
Already acquired.
https://www.marketstoday.net/news/ooredoo-kuwait-acquires-fasttelco/15647/en/#ixzz44OHRQcpa
Isn’t Ooredoo already the worst in internet services in terms of high costs vis-a-vis low data / speeds?
Another internal news of zajil/kems that they are being purchased by STC (Saudi Telecom) AKA viva in kuwait. Guess the operators really wanna take over the ISPs
If the ISPs are being taken over by Telcoms, could they even start having basket of apps that can be used as per their plans?
what do you mean?
Probably apps violating Net neutrality. VIVA already has it like that I guess.
Good news, i switched from viva to ooredoo few days back :}
Interesting…let’s hope that this actually goes through.
This could possibly mean that the Private sector can push and invest in updating the telecom infrastructure in Kuwait and actually invest more into making a full fiber optic thing a reality. I had a warm fuzzy feeling before where Wireless telecom companies didn’t want landlines to support very fast internet connections because it would presumably hinder their Cellular Internet sales…
inshallah khair…
1 less reason for proud of being Kuwaiti.. For crying out loud, Ooredoo (Qatari company) has a sky scraper in Kuwait city that lightens up every night!!!
It wasn’t exactly Kuwait’s iconic and performing asset. You’re talking like someone acquired KDD, Kuwait Flour Mills. As much as I hear that the Qatari’s in general treat people the worst in the GCC, in the professional arena, I’m told they have no “Bukhra” Get it done now or I’ll find someone else to get it done. That makes perfect business sense and consumers and the country in general benefits. 11Million is pocket change for what is anyway an average ISP.
Isn’t this the first step for a complete overhaul of telecom sector which the government is undertaking. Telecom and IT are now under the jurisdiction of Telecom and IT authority. 11 million is too little especially with the money ooredoo will make when landlines also get privatised and they tap into that market.
Opcos buying ISPs isn’t new . It’s happened in many countries over the last 8 years and was discussed in Kuwait many years back as well.
The primary reason for opcos to buy ISPs is not costs , but greater control over the ecosystem . Data monetization , incentivizing local ecommerce players , affiliate content partners , third party app monetization , etc . Telcos have long realized (around 2011) that goes GSM and messaging services are obsolete and data is now everything and so owning the actual transmission gives better control over packet monitoring , this giving them the ability to create tons of VAS for the consumer .
The underlying principle is cost yes , but not the strategic driver .