Sudan based landline operator, Canartel says that it expects to get a mobile license by the end of the year, for a payment in the hundreds of millions of dollars. The company is also looking to expand its landline services into Darfur and southern Sudan.
The mobile licence will cost "in the hundreds of millions (of dollars)", Mohammed Bouhelal, chief corporate affairs officer for Canartel, told Reuters on the sidelines of a telecoms conference. "It (the decision) is now at a very high level. It should be announced by Etisalat soon," Bouhelal said.
The company has outlined a CAPEX for its landline network of around US$50 million to expand its network into Darfur and southern Sudan - although the southern Sudan region is expected to hold a referendum on splitting into a separate country in 2012.
UAE based Etisalat owns 82% of Canartel, having increased its hold at the beginning of this year from 37%.
Rival landline operator, Sudatel is planning to increase its capital to US$2.5 billion to fund its own expansion plans.
Sudan's Mobitel - now a part of Kuwait based Zain recently launched a GSM network in Southern Sudan, having deployed 50 base stations in the main urban areas. The company is planning to spend US$150 million over the next few years on its network. Mobitel has spent over US$500 million on its Sudan network - although the bulk of the expenditure has been in the North of the country.
Figures from the Mobile World report that Sudan ended the first half of this year with an estimated 9.2 million mobile subscribers - representing a population penetration level of just over 21%.
On the web: Reuters - Mobile World
Posted to the site on 17th October 2008
Posted to: www.cellular-news.com/story/34177.php