Ethiopian regulators deny claims that Safaricom is shortlisted for telecom licence

Ethiopian regulator have refuted claims that leading communications company in Kenya, Safaricom, was shortlisted for the coveted Ethiopian telecoms licences

The Ethiopian Communications Authority (ECA) denies claims that Safaricom has been shortlisted to bid for one of the two telecom licences up for grabs. Obtaining the two licences for Ethiopia could be fruitful given the country’s massive population. 

The rebuttal came as rumor began swirling around that the authorities were to grant Safaricom the licence. This came after Safaricom led Consortium raised Kshs 55 Billion in bid to acquire the Ethiopian licence.

They expressed that as of date, no official proposal or documents have been filed to notify the authorities of their intentions to bid for the licence. The ECA expressing in a tweet:

So far, twelve people have notified the ECA of their intention to obtain the licences, of which nine were telecoms operators, two were non telecoms operators and one was incomplete.  

Those whom have shown interest are now to submit a proposal document by  5 April, 2021. The ECA forecasts the licences to be awarded in Q1 of this year. The successful bidder will be able to penetrate over 55% of the total population, and the licence will be valid for 15 years with possibility of renewal.  

Source: techweez

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