ONE of Nigeria’s fastest growing mobile operators, Visafone, has strengthened its market position by acquiring the troubled Multi-links Communications Limited’s Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) mobile assets.

However, the amount paid by Visafone for the acquisition was undisclosed as at press time.

This acquisition has put an end to speculations about which company(s) would acquire the troubled Multilinks Telkom.

There were speculations that latest Entrant into the GSM market of Nigeria, Etisalat was making every effort to buy the CDMA arm of Multilinks to increase it subscribers base in the country. It was also reported last week that Starcomms had finally moved to acquire the company with a large sum running into billion of dollars.

According to a statement made available to The Guardian yesterday, by Visafone Heads of Brands and Marketing, Kingsley Mordi, the final acquisition by Visafone, was done in South Africa on last Thursday.

At the signing-in ceremony held in Johannesburg, with Jeffrey Hedberg, the Chief Executive Officer of Telkom, the parent company of Multilinks in attendance, Founder and Chairman of Visafone, Jim Ovia, stated that “Visafone recognises that this deal will solidify its position in the Nigerian marketplace and is committed to offering world-class voice and data solutions to existing Multilinks customers. This transaction brings us closer to achieving our target of 10 million subscribers within three years.”

We believe that the superior technology offered by CDMA, combined with a subscriber base of 4.2 million active subscribers will enable Visafone to continue as a game-changing innovator in the Nigerian marketplace. Multilinks customers will be afforded the same high quality of network and customer service as existing Visafone subscribers enjoy.”

Ovia stressed that the new union now amasses a coverage area that cuts across over 85 per cent of Nigeria’s land mass, adding that they are strategically redefining and reshaping the CDMA mobile marketplace in terms of both voice and data.

Multilinks has, however, assured its customers that they will continue to offer a high-level service and support during this transition period.

It will be recalled that in 2010, Telkom South Africa, which controls 100 percent share in Multi-Links Nigeria, had to quit the CDMA business in Nigeria, hitherto operated by Multi-Links Telkom.

According to Chief Executive Officer of Multi-Links Telkom, Mr. Vincent Raseroka, the company faced financial crises shortly after it bought into Multi-Links in 2007, insisting that the CDMA business in Nigeria is currently facing financial challenges.

Blaming the challenges partly on high competitive telecom environment, Raseroka said in 2009, the operating revenue of Multi-Links Telkom declined by 1.7 per cent to about N15 million, while its Earning Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortisation (EBITDA) decreased by N4.45 million, and its subscriptions and connections revenue decreased by 18.2 per cent due to the termination of access fees as a result of increased competition. He added that its traffic revenue also decreased by 24.6 per cent mainly due to decrease in traffic volumes and higher chum rates in the same year.

Raseroka further explained that the company had a small market share while operating in a challenging environment and made little progress on reducing costs on long-term contracts. He concluded that Multi-Links Telkom was not profitable and that it would take time to turnaround profitably.
http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=43591:visafone-acquires-multilinks-telkom-&catid=1:national&Itemid=559

Visafone acquire multilinks?
is this not trouble. Multilinlks was doing better than visafone especially their internet services. what does visafone intend to do with multilinks, than further crumble it.
All multilinks subscribers get ready for high tariff and poor services. Consider opting for a new nework though.

This sounds weird. It's just like nairaland buying google.

As a Starcomns subscriber, I was hoping the company would be bought by Starcomns so that we will see real improvement in the latter's services; its disappointing sha