Business
Zain, 3 others bid to become Rwanda’s third phone operator
Zain company has already invested $12 billion in Africa and will offer WiMAX, 2.7G, 3G and 3.5G technology to the Rwandan telecom industry as well as laying a fibre optic loop. Photo/FILE
The privately-owned LarryCom is the only sub-Saharan company to have shown interest in the bids. It is registered in Sudan with offshore offices in Dubai, Beirut and Egypt. LarryCom owns 15 per cent of Bashir Telecom. It also owns five per cent of Sudatel.
The licence obligations of the third national operator include payment of annual operating fees contribution to the Universal Access Fund and other fees as stipulated in the relevant legislations.
MTN Rwanda, a subsidiary of the MTN Group in South Africa, has for over a decade commanded a market share of over 90 per cent, growing its subscriber base to about 600,000.
Having received its operational licence in 1998 with a validity of 10 years, the company was to construct, maintain and operate a 900, 1800 and 1900MHz GSM telecommunication network within the geographic territory of Rwanda.
MTN Rwanda paid an initial license fee of $200,000 and pays an annual licence fee equivalent to three per cent of revenue.
The company has rolled out a successful Village Phone project under which public payphones have been allocated to local entrepreneurs to manage. The project was this year expanded to all the 30 districts in the country, in the process establishing 1,100 new businesses.
However, regulators last month found that some of of MTN Rwanda’s contractual obligation were not met and demanded that the firm be penalised.
Just months after the MTN Group in Johannesburg increased its share in the Rwandan subsidiary from 40 per cent to 55 per cent for $40.5 million, the company was last month fined $140,000 by Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Agency for failure to meet it’s license obligations.
