Qatar Telecom (Qtel), will attempt to enter the Egyptian mobile market, building on their successful entry into the sector in Oman.

Nasser Marafih, chief executive officer of Qtel said that the company was exploring several investment opportunities in the region as part of its expansion plans. Qtel has 20% of the Omani mobile phone market after acquiring 300,000 subscribers on its Nawras network after one year of operation.

Egypt is currently receiving bids for its third mobile license. Nineteen copies of the terms of reference regulating the bid have been distributed so far to interested companies. The terms were announced February 13 and are available for bidders to review. Bidders will be allowed to place offers as of April 17 and firms wanting to bid must pay a guarantee of US$ 4.4 million. The terms state that offers from international companies that have local partners and firms willing to trade a portion of their shares on the Cairo and Alexandria Stock Exchange after two years of operation will be favoured.

Potential bidders include Kuwait's MTC, Emirates Telecommunications Corp., or Etisalat, of the United Arab Emirates, Egypt's Raya Holding in an alliance with South African firm MTN, and Telecom Egypt. There were reports in February that Telecom Egypt was in talks with several foreign investors to form an alliance for the bid but no deal had been announced to date.

Source: Dow Jones -  WDR/Intelecon Regulatory News