Cambodian telecoms firm Digital Star Media has said it has not yet finalised the acquisition of CDMA mobile network operator GT-Tell (which operates under the Excell brand), which was initially announced in July 2011, Digital Star’s chief operating officer Frank May told local newspaper the Phnom Penh Post. May revealed that Digital Star, which operates a WiMAX network under the brand name Emaxx, is currently conducting due diligence on GT-Tell, but did not give a timeline for the completion of the deal. ‘As with any company doing wise business, we are working through various levels of due diligence… We’re in the process of document review and are waiting for the arrival of all documents,’ he said. Under the previously announced deal, Digital Star will obtain GT-Tell’s 28 cellphone towers and will continue expanding the network and its capabilities going forward. Earlier, May said that Digital Star aims to acquire GT-Tell as its CDMA network would allow for a faster and more cost-effective transition to 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE). The value of the deal has not been disclosed.
According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database, the Cambodian wireless market is one of the most overcrowded and competitive in the world with no fewer than eight mobile operators competing for custom from the country’s approximately 15 million inhabitants. At the end of September 2011 GT-Tell was the smallest mobile operator by subscribers, with an estimated market share of just 1.0%. The company commercially launched its CDMA2000 1xEV-DO network in the capital Phnom Penh on 1 September 2008, and went on to launch a 1xEV-DO Rev A network in December 2010.