Tuesday 19 September 2017

Zambia Seeking Bids for New Mobile Provider to Take on MTN

by Taonga Clifford Mitimingi and Matthew Hill

Zambia is seeking bidders for a fourth mobile-network license to take on operators including market leader MTN Group Ltd. in the southern African country, Transport and Communications Minister Brian Mushimba said.

The ministry last week gave the go-ahead to the telecommunications regulator to start the process, he said in a recorded response to questions on Monday. The new carrier could be in place over the next six to 12 months and the country may even have capacity for a fifth operator, he said. The local unit of India’s Bharti Airtel Ltd. and state-owned Zamtel make up the current trio.

Communication costs in Zambia have been “rather on the high side,” Mushimba said from Lusaka, the capital. “The market analysis that we have done supports the fact that we can have a fourth licensee and possibly a fifth and still the market will be profitable.”

For full story - www.bloomberg.com

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.