Egypt’s National Telecom Regulatory Authority did not however disclosed the names of the companies involved in the consortia, according to globaltelecombusiness.com.
The regulator announced the bidding process in September last year, with offers due in January 2010 and successful bidders likely to start operating in the second half of 2010. The deadline was postponed to December. According to the Egyptian government, the bidders will be spared an upfront payment when applying, but instead they would have to submit 8% of their revenues.
No less than 18 companies have purchased the bid documents, including incumbent operators Mobinil, Vodafone Egypt and Orascom Telecom.
The Egyptian regulator expects the awarding of licenses to generate a $1 billion investment over five years in the telecoms market. The two operators would compete with Telecom Egypt, if licensing is approved.
