Namibia's cabinet has announced that the country's second GSM operating license has been awarded to Powercom, which is partly owned by the state controlled power utility, NamPower. Local reports suggested that the other investor in the company is Norway's Telenor. Only two companies had expressed an interest in the license, the other company being China's ZDE.
Back in 2003, Fritz Jacobs, general manager of Nampower Investments, had noted that Nampower already has an extensive telecommunications infrastructure, which includes fibre optic cables that run alongside its high voltage power cable network. This network covers most of the country, a fact which the company will probably rely on. At present the company uses this infrastructure to monitor the status of its grid. According to information from the Namibian Communications Commission the new mobile operator must be prepared to establish its own infrastructure to serve the remote areas.
The incumbent operator is Mobile Telecommunications Limited (MTC), which is 34% owned by Portugal Telecom. According to The Mobile World database, MTC ended last year with 455,000 customers - representing a population penetration rate of just over 22%."
Posted to the site on 29th May 2006
Posted to: www.cellular-news.com/story/17571.php