TeliaSonera is increasing its ownership of TeliaSonera Asia Holding to 75.45 percent from 51 percent, paying SEK1.1 billion (US$160 million) for the additional shares. TeliaSonera Asia Holding owns 81 percent of Ncell, the second largest operator of three in Nepal, and 100 percent of Applifone (Star-Cell), the sixth biggest player of nine in Cambodia (a country with a total subscriber base of just under 8 million, according to Wireless Intelligence figures). The transaction will give TeliaSonera an indirect ownership of 60.4 percent of Ncell, up from 40.8 percent, and the company has a right to increase this to 72.9 percent if certain conditions are met. According to earlier reports, the remaining stake in TeliaSonera Asia Holding was owned by Kazakhstan investment firm Visor Group, which will still be a minority shareholder in the venture.

At the same time, the company announced plans to merge its Cambodian unit with that of smaller rival Latelz, which trades using the Smart Mobile brand. The partners said that the combined business will have more than 850,000 subscribers, which should put it into the number three spot in the country, albeit some way behind rivals MetFone (Viettel) and Cellcard (MobiTel), both of which have more than two million customers. According to Tero Kivisarri, President of Eurasia for TeliaSonera (pictured), “the Cambodian mobile market has been characterised by fierce competition and high churn rates and a consolidation was inevitable.” While StarCell is the bigger of the two companies, after the combination TeliaSonera will hold 25 percent of the business, which will operate using the Smart Mobile brand. The transaction is still subject to regulatory approval.