Jordan Telecom on Sunday officially acquired Global One, one of the country’s leading Internet service providers (ISP), in a $12.8 million deal, reported the Jordan Times newspaper.
After launching MobileCom last September, Jordan Telecom has now turned itself into an ISP with the acquisition, a deal that has been in the making for some six months.
The company's chairman, Shabib Ammari, announced on Sunday that a third subsidiary had already been registered under the name of Ittisalnet.com -- a nascent dot.com to focus exclusively on content, the paper said.
“All these steps show our commitment to making the development of IT a reality and to spreading the culture of the Internet among all Jordanians,” Ammari said at a signing ceremony for the Global One deal.
Jordan Telecom -- whose exclusivity period for fixed telephony expires in 2004 -- was privatized in January 2000, under a $508 million deal in which France Telecom, along with the Arab Bank Ltd., acquired a 40 percent stake.
The company has announced that it will launch an initial public offering (IPO) in early 2002.
“We did a lot last year to build the infrastructure, set up a high-speed data communications network, and reduce tariffs,” Ammari continued.
“It is not over: in August and October there will be good news for all,” he declared, anticipating that the current dial-up fee (cost of subscribers' calls to their ISP) of eight fils per minute would be reduced.
Global One is the country's largest ISP, claiming more than 15,000 subscribers and $4.5 million in revenues last year. It started providing Internet services in 1995 – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
