STOCKHOLM -(Dow Jones)- Norwegian telecom operator Telenor is hoping to enter the Vietnamese telecommunications market in 2007, Chief Executive Jon Fredrik Baksaas said in a conference call with analysts Thursday.
Baksaas said Vietnam's recent entry into the World Trade Organization improves the likelihood that Telenor will begin operations in that country. "We will work for a Telenor presence there," he said.
Baksaas also said his company may be interested in buying some operations in Pakistan that rival Millicom International Cellular has put up for sale.
"Our interest depends heavily on the license fee question," Baksaas said.
Millicom said in November it plans to leave the Pakistani market as it cannot get a good return on its investments which include large license fees for radio spectrum.
Millicom has approximately $180 million of commitments left in its license payments in Pakistan, according to estimates by Handelsbanken.
Baksaas doesn't want to take over those commitments and said it could well be that Millicom will be forced to close down its operations without finding a buyer.
The Pakistani regulator, which collects the license fees, has earlier not been willing to compromise on deferring payments from Millicom.
In Sweden, where Telenor earlier this year finalized a deal to buy Vodafone Group's local unit, the turnaround of the operations had proceeded better than expected, Baksaas said.
Telenor's Swedish unit reached an EBITDA margin of 24% in the third quarter, up from 13% in the first quarter when it had just taken over the unit from Vodafone.
Baksaas, however, warned that fourth-quarter margins may not be as good.
"Margin will probably take a dip in the fourth quarter as (marketing) activity is higher," Baksaas said.
Telecom operators in Europe often see their profit margin go down in the fourth quarter as they increase advertising spending and other marketing activities for the Christmas season.
-By Magnus Hansson, Dow Jones Newswires; +46 8 545 130 91, magnus.hansson@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires"
Posted to the site on 7th December 2006
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