Kuwait’s Mobile Telecommunications Company Group has confirmed its intention to bid for the third GSM licence in Egypt, set to be awarded later this year. The operator has also opened a new office in Cairo, in a country where the mobile penetration rate is relatively modest at around 16%.
“We would be dedicated to growing this market further with the most innovative and technologically advanced services in the country”, says Mohamed Eid, MTC country manager for Egypt. The two incumbent operators are Orascom Telecom’s MobiNil and Vodafone Egypt, which between them had around 13 million subscribers at the end of 2005.
In 2005 the MTC acquired Celtel International, which now has operations in 14 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. By winning the Egypt licence, MTC is looking to geographically bridge the Middle East and the African continent.
Other operators that have expressed an interest in bidding for the licence in Egypt include the UAE’s Etisalat and MTN of South Africa.
Follow us on
