Ericsson chosen to build Morocco's 2nd GSM network

The giant international mobile phone company Ericsson has been chosen as the principal supplier of a GSM network by Medi Telecom, which operates Morocco's second GSM license.

The Moroccan "Sahara Maghrebia" daily, which reported the news on Tuesday, said Ericsson won the tender launched by the Spainish-led Telefonica consortium "Medi-Telecom" for $142 million (Euro 135 million).

The consortium won recently a 15-year license to operate the second GSM network in Morocco for about $1.8 billion. It is composed of Spanish Telefonica, Telecom Portugal, Morocco BMCE Bank and Afriquia Gas distributor Group.

The Moroccan government has approved the sale of the 2nd GSM network to the Spanish led-consortium whose leaders were few weeks ago received by King Mohammed VI.

Morocco, which counts 28 million inhabitants, has over 150,000 mobile phone users and around 1.5 million phone subscribers.

The country is also planning to sell up 20% of the stakes of its telecom operator "Ittisalat Al Maghreb."