Kuwait’s Mobile Telecommunications Company (Zain), announced yesterday it had agreed to purchase Iraqna from Egyptian operator Orascom Telecom for a price of $1.2bn, through its subsidiary MTC Atheer.
MCT Atheer secured one of three 15 year licences awarded by the Iraqi Communication and Media Commission in August. Iraqna has more than 3 million subscribers, or 34% of the mobile market. The acquisition gives the company a customer base of more than seven million in Iraq, the second largest in the Zain Group’s 22 operations across the Middle East and Africa.
Its Iraqi network will span over 15,000 square kilometres, covering all of the country’s major populated areas, and is set for further future expansion.
MTC Atheer in Iraq will be rebranded Zain in early 2008.
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