MTN, Glomobile, Etisalat and Zain have been disqualified from buying the mobile arm of NITEL (M-Tel) in the on-going effort to sell the Nigerian carrier.
Director-General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises, BPE, Dr. Christopher Anyanwu said, “Nonetheless, NCC pointed out that any of the local operating firms can purchase NITEL alone without M-TEL and SAT3”.
The Vanguard reports that the four GSM operators are part of the 14 telecommunications companies vying for NITEL’s 75 per cent stake as advertised by the BPE in July. The deadline for interested bidders to express interest will close on Monday, October 26, 2009.
Anyawu also said that if the bureau allowed any of the four licensed GSM operators to buy NITEL as a single entity, it would “present competition challenges and will conflict with the regulator’s guidelines and licensing conditions.”
The companies that have submitted their applications are Etisalat Nigeria (EMTS); Omen International Limited (BVI); Summit Group; MTI Consortium; Finetek Consortium; MTNL Limited, India; and Globacom Ltd.
Others are MTN Nigeria Communications Limited; Anas Network Services Limited; Telefonica Consortium; Metro PCS Communications Inc; Brymedia (W.A) Limited; Galaxy Backbone Plc and Conau Limited.
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