Winner of 2nd GSM license hands over Morocco $1.08 billion
Morocco, Business, 8/9/1999

The International telecom consortium led by Spain's Telefonica, which won last month Morocco's 2nd GSM mobile license, paid last week the Moroccan State $1.08 billion for getting the license.

The Telefonica-led consortium, which is dubbed "Medi-Telecom," is composed of Portugal Telecom (PTCO.IN), Moroccan BMCE Bank (BMCE.CS) and local gas distributor Afriquia Group.

Chiefs of the consortium were received last week by King Mohammed VI and by Prime Minister Abderrahmane Youssoufi, after the Moroccan government approved the 15-year deal.

The late King Hassan II had announced that part of the phone sale will be used to finance several job-generating projects. He had also explained that these projects will target, first of all, promotion of social housing, breaking the isolation of some areas, electrification, drinking water supply to the rural world, dams building, irrigation, development of the fishing sector and construction of highways.

According to the Moroccan Telecom Watchdog Agence Nationale de Reglementation des Telecommunications (ANRT), another GSM phone license will be sold to private operators by the year 2005.

Morocco, a nation of 28 million inhabitants, counts around 1.5 million phone subscribers and over 150,000 mobile phone users.

The North African country, which is determined to go forward in the liberalization of its telecom sector, is planning to sell up to 40 % of the capital of its telecom operator Ittisalat Al-Maghreb for around one billion USD.

Previous Stories:
  King Mohammed receives meditelecom officials   (8/7/1999)
  Governmental commission on priorities for use of cellular phone license receipts   (8/3/1999)
  Moroccan government approves sale of 2nd GSM license to Medi-Telecom   (7/30/1999)

Please add a link on your webiste pointing to ArabicNews.com and bookmark ArabicNews.com & subscribe to our daily email news bulletin.

Search