The Lebanese government has approved the modified terms and conditions for the privatization of the telecom sector. International telecom firms are expected to submit offers for the tender of two mobile licenses in the next six weeks, reported BlomInvest.
In July 2002, the Lebanese government decided to put the country’s two cellular networks up for sale through an international public tender. Contracts with Cellis and LibanCell were revoked in mid-2001, although their 10-year Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) contracts were to expire only in 2004. However, in the latest series of governmental contract renewals, authorities extended the short term operating contracts of two mobile phone companies until the end of January 2004.
Lebanon’s Higher Privatization Council chose seven companies that qualified for the tender five months ago. Luxembourg’s Investcom, Libancell, Orange from France, OTE from Greece, Detecon from Germany and MTC and Wataniya from Kuwait have all been selected as eligible bidders. — (menareport.com)
© 2003 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
