The government will also offer a minority stake in Ethio Telecom, the monopoly operator, and foreign firms will be invited to bid. Ethiopia is also one of the final frontiers globally for multinational telecoms companies. They have been eagerly awaiting the government’s announcement on the market structure since parliament passed a bill last month outlining the scope of a regulator for the sector. Reuters reported last month that the government had decided to issue two new licenses in part because preparing Ethio Telecom for a partial sale is proving a lengthy process. The government will expect the winning companies to start operations next year, initially using Ethio Telecom’s infrastructure to run their networks, the sources said.

Source: Ethiopian News July 06, 2019 08:03 UTC