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UAE's Etisalat wants Libya investment [Bikya Masr (Egypt)]
(Bikya Masr (Egypt) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Etisalat
CAIRO: The United Arab Emirates' telecom operator Etisalat, the Gulf region's largest telecom company, said on Monday evening that it hopes to acquire a license to operate in Libya or to invest in one of the country's already existing operators.
Libya's current two state-run mobile operators are Madar and Libyana, and a third government-run company Lap Green Networks also operates across the continent, but has been hit with scandal recently as countries, notably Zambia, backed out of deals with the Libya company for its links to the former Muammar Gaddafi regime.
“We have shown to the Libyan government our interest (in) the possibility to participate in the development of the telecoms market in Libya, either by a new license or even by operating or investing in one of the existing mobile licenses,” Mohammad Omran told Reuters news agency on the sidelines of an event in Tripoli.
When asked if Etisalat was in negotiations with the Libya government on potentially buying into the telecoms sector, Omran said: “There are no official talks.”
Abu Dhabi-based Etisalat's bid for Libya’s third mobile license in 2009 was promising, but in the end, no deal was ever formalized.
Etisalat then went to Egypt, where it won the country's third mobile license and has been making great strides in the Egyptian telecom sector.
The former monopoly, which is 60-percent-owned by the government, is active in 17 countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia, yet its home market provides about three-quarters of revenue, according to its third-quarter results, the company said in a recent report.
BM
(c) 2012 Bikya Masr Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company
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