Ethiopia will delay the award of two telecoms licences to foreign mobile companies beyond March, responding to requests from interested bidders, Reuters reported. State Minister of Finance Eyob Tekalign Tolina said the timeline is probably too aggressive for most operators. Tolina said mobile firms have asked the government to allow them enough time to prepare and compete, and a new timeline will be announced in the next two weeks.
Ethiopia had said it would issue the licences by the end of 2019. Balch Reba, director general of the Ethiopian Communication Authority, then said in October 2019 that the government hoped to launch bidding early this year and award the licences by April. Reba did not respond to requests for comments on the new timeline.
Eyob said the government will not consider a "pure auction" to allocate the two licences, which several mobile operators feared would reward the highest offer rather than taking into account international expertise or technical capabilities.
The licences will end a state monopoly in the country of around 100 million people and open up one of the world's last major closed telecoms markets. MTN, Etisalat and Western telecoms companies like Vodafone and Orange are likely to be among the leading bidders, said Reuters.
