The consortium also includes Egypt Post, Al Ahli Bank and CIB
Dubai: The Etisalat-led consortium, which recently won the third mobile license in Egypt, is currently in negotiations with the Egyptian National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA) to obtain an international telecommunication service licence, a top Etisalat official said.
Mohammad Omran, chairman of Etisalat, told Gulf News that the telecom major will take part in a tender for the license, to be conducted by the Egyptian government, in the last quarter of this year. Etisalat s bid in this auction will compete with international, regional, and local companies to win this license, Omran said.
A consortium led by Etisalat, which includes Egypt Post, Al Ahli Bank and the Commercial International Bank (CIB), offered LE 16.7 billion, beating eight international telecommunication consortiums last month to win the third mobile license in Egypt.
Etisalat decided to name its new company in Egypt Nile Telecom , which will operate the third mobile network in Egypt, along with Mobinil and Vodaphone, he said.He added that Etisalat, which holds 66 per cent stake in the new company, has no intention of selling any of its shares.
Etisalat will have six seats in the new company s board of directors, which is equivalent to two-thirds of the board s nine seats, he added.
The Al Ahli bank-Egypt said in a statement that a bank account was set in the name of the winning consortium to pay the cost of the mobile license to the account of the Egyptian National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority.
The bank stated that the consortium authorized Etisalat to sign the contract as the largest investor in the consortium.
Etisalat will sign the final contract with the Egyptian government. Dr Ahmed Nazif, the Egyptian Prime Minister, will attend the official ceremony next Monday in Cairo. Noozz
