Seeking Alpha: MTN Group - A High-Quality Play On Africa's Potential

Africa really is the dark continent when it comes to investment options for American investors. While there are growing stock exchanges across the continent, there are few cross-listings in the United States and few liquid ADRs. While direct investment is always an option for the especially brave and ETFs like Market Vectors Africa (NYSE: AFK) or S&P Emerging Middle East & Africa (NYSE: GAF), I would suggest risk-tolerant investors take a look at MTN Group (Nasdaq: MTNOY.PK). Not only is MTN Group a well-run company in its own right, it's a potential direct beneficiary of rising incomes and standards of living across Africa.

The Basics
What MTN Group does is not very complicated. MTN is the dominant wireless service provider in much of Africa. It is an African version of Verizon (NYSE: VZ), America Movil (NYSE: AMX), or Vodafone (NYSE: VOD). MTN Group is presently licensed to operate in 21 countries and is further authorized to offer internet services in 13 countries.

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MTN Group: A High-Quality Play On Africa's Potential

Investopedia: American Tower Still Great, And Still Expensive

Communications tower owner American Tower (NYSE:AMT) knows well what many landlords have long realized; it is a great business to own a valuable asset that your customers can't build for themselves, but must have in order to stay in business. Better still, not only is there still growth potential in the U.S., from higher occupancy, more towers and higher prices, but even greater potential overseas.

A Fairly Good Third Quarter  
There are no complaints with the top line numbers that American Tower reported. Revenue rose almost 23% to $630 million, surpassing the average analyst estimate and matching the high end of the range. While overseas growth was eye-popping at 79% year-on-year, domestic growth of 9% is pretty good, in its own right, considering how mature the U.S. mobile phone market is.

Read the complete piece here:
http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2011/American-Tower-Still-Great-And-Still-Expensive-AMT-VOD-SBAC-VZ-T-S-CCI-TEF-FTE-CHL1102.aspx

Investopedia: AT&T Will Have To Fight The Government For T-Mobile

When AT&T (NYSE:T) proposed to acquire Deutsche Telekom's (Nasdaq:DTEGY) U.S. subsidiary T-Mobile and combine the #2 and #4 wireless service providers into the #1 provider, it seemed like a bold and risky move. The risk on this deal has just ratcheted upward in a major way, as the Department of Justice has dug in its heels and filed suit to block the deal on antitrust grounds. The high break-up fee that AT&T owes DT if the deal falls through gives the company strong incentive to fight this one out, but the odds of success are not looking great.

Department of Justice Itching for a Fight   
The Department of Justice is adamant that it does not want this deal to go through. Keep in mind, the FCC just asked AT&T for more information about a month ago and by all accounts the agency is not even close to finishing its review of the transaction. The Department of Justice doesn't seem to care, though, and has already decided to oppose this deal through the courts.

To read more, click below:
http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2011/ATT-Will-Have-To-Fight-The-Government-For-T-Mobile-T-S-VZ-AMT-CELL-LEAP-PCS0905.aspx

American Tower - Great Business At A Bad Price

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) just may be a value investor's nightmare - a brilliant business, coupled with what looks like a nosebleed valuation. While I have no qualms at all about this company, and I love the business that it is in, I have a very hard time figuring out how to value the company in a way that makes it an appealing stock to buy today. 

The Quarter That Was 
American Tower reported overall (normalized) revenue growth of about 9% and $470 million. Within that number, the company's core site rental business saw revenue grow 12%, and the company ended the quarter with more than 28,000 tower sites around the world.

http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2010/American-Tower---Great-Business-At-A-Bad-Price-AMT-VZ-T-CLWR-CCI-SBAC-AAPL0806.aspx