Ethiopia Postpones Telecoms Licensing Process

Monday, March 09, 2020 / 01:45 PM / By Broadcast Media Africa / Header Image Credit: Twitter; @EyobTolina

The Ethiopian government has announced that it will postpone the awarding of two telecoms licences to operators that are interested in entering the country's market.

Eyob Tekalign Tolina, Ethiopia's Minister of Finance, said that the process is likely to only kick-off after March 2020 because the initial timeline is probably too aggressive for most of the operators that want to bid.

Orange SA, MTN Group, Safaricom, Econet Global and Etisalat, are reportedly among the contenders.

Tolina said that the operators had asked the government to give them enough time to prepare and compete.

The revised scheduled will be announced within the next two weeks.

Tolina also added that the government would not consider a 'pure auction' as a method to allocate the licences.

This would reassure mobile operators who had been concerned that an auction would simply reward the highest bidder and not explore aspects like technical capabilities and international expertise.

The government has not yet published guidelines regarding the bidding process.

Commenting on the announced delay, Andrew Makanya, a telecoms analyst from the Computer Association of Zambia, said that the Ethiopian authorities should take their time in order to adequately scrutinise bidders and avoid the risk of rewarding licences to operators who would then suffer financial challenges - as is the case in Zambia.

Related News

1. Nigeria's NBC Kicks Off Broadcast Industry Reform Implementation
2. South Africa: Vodacom Reaches Settlement With Competition Regulator Over Data Prices
3. Digital Payments Sustains Surge; Affirms Growth Prospects
4. Are We Ready for a Cashless Society?
5. Nigerian Telecoms Industry - Diving into Nigeria's New SIM Card Policy
6. Gen Z and The Coming Telecom Wars: Understanding Nigeria's New Consumer Telco Market
7. Are Online Lending Companies Better Than Banks?
8. MTN Nigeria Communications Plc Resolves Legal Action Against AGF and Minister of Justice
9. Broadband Penetration Set to Improve; Internet Subscriptions Stood At 125.7m In December 2019
10. AIRTELAFRI Signs Strategic Partnership With Western Union
11. Broadband Penetration Set to Grow
12. MTN Nigeria Communications Plc Notifies of Withdrawal of Demand by the AGF
13. Africans Face Most Expensive Internet Charges In The World
14. Uptick in GSM Internet Subscription By 15% YoY To Stand At 123.2m