Moroccan Trio Gain 3G Licences
July 24, 2006 - source: BWCS
The telecoms regulatory body in Morocco, the ANRT, has awarded the three next generation mobile licences it had put on offer. Each of the winning companies or consortia will have to pay Moroccan Dirham 360 million (US$42.83 million) for their UMTS franchise, plus a contribution towards the reorganization of the radio spectrum in the country.
The successful bidders were: domestic operator Maroc Telecom (Itissalat Al-Maghrib), the Telefonica/Telecom Portugal joint venture - Medi Telecom and Maroc Connect. Nejma Telecom Maroc, a subsidiary of the Kuwaiti-based Wataniya International, missed out on a licence.
Maroc Telecom and Maroc Connect say that they will use UMTS technology and plan to begin rolling out their services in the country's major urban areas first. Meanwhile, Medi Telecom has opted to offer services on the CDMA2000 standard.
Interest in the three licences was mixed. Despite four companies bidding for the three franchises on offer, two other potential bidders had previously pulled out of the running. The two early fallers were, Etisalat from the UAE and India's Reliance Infocom.
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