|
Iraq sells 3 mobile licences for $3.75 bln
17.8.2007
|
|
|
|
August 17, 2007
AMMAN, Jordan, -- Iraq sold three mobile
phone licences for $3.75 billion to Kuwait's Mobile
Telecommunications Co (MTC), Asiacell and Korek on
Friday, in a country that relies on cellphones after
war and sanctions hit landlines.
The three firms, which already run networks in the
war-torn country, made the highest bids in an
auction in the Jordanian capital that began on
Thursday.
"To get the best return from the auction in such
circumstances is a great vote of confidence in the
Iraqi economy," Iraqi Finance Minister Bayan Jabor
told reporters in Amman.
The winners will also share 18 percent of the
revenues with the government.
TurkCell and Egypt's Orascom Telecom had also bid
for licences but dropped out of the race for one of
the few sectors to thrive amid Iraq's instability
and crumbling infrastructure.
Orascom's withdrawal appeared to be a major upset as
the operator was the first to provide a full mobile
phone service in Baghdad after the 2003 invasion,
through its Iraqna subsidiary.
The company had invested almost $300 million in Iraq
since it first won the rights to operate there in
October 2003.
Iraqna's Web site says it has around 3 million
subscribers, representing just over a third of the
market.
"Since they were first to establish in Iraq, we were
surprised by Iraqna's pullout from the auction after
bidding reached $1.25 billion," Jabor said.
The 15-year licences replace three short-term
contracts awarded soon after the invasion.
MTC began in the south of Iraq through its Atheer
network. Asiacell is 40-percent owned by Qatar
Telecommunications Co through Kuwait-based National
Mobile Telecommunications Co. , which it took over
in March.
Asiacell began operating in the Kurdistan autonomous
region in the north in 1999. Korek Telecom is based
in the city of Erbil city, the capital of Kurdistan
region.
Iraqi mobile use rose to 8 million out of a
population of 26 million at the end of 2006, from
virtually nothing three years earlier, according to
officials.
GOVERNMENT SHARE
Officials said the auction, which had been delayed
due to Iraq's security problems, is part of a drive
to increase revenues and improve services in a
market that is viewed as underpenetrated.
They also said the auction system was designed to
counter widespread criticism of a lack of
accountability that has plagued Iraqi
administrations since the invasion.
The tendering process took a year and half and left
five mainly Middle Eastern bidders in the running
out of the 11 firms originally short-listed.
Jabor told Reuters earlier that the winning firms
have to offer 45 percent of their equity to the
Iraqi public within four years as part of a drive by
the authorities to widen public ownership of assets.
The finance ministry will levy 15 percent tax on the
profits of the mobile companies on top of the
revenue-sharing, he added.
There is a widespread belief that the original
licences were offered too cheaply to existing
operators.
Reuters
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the content of news
information on this page
|
® 