Egyptian billionaire mobile tycoon who financially backs Wind Mobile, said that the company could pull out of a government auction of wireless licenses if the Canadian government does not set aside some of the licenses for new competitors. He also called for Ottawa to clarify its foreign ownership rules.
Naguib Sawiris, who also heads a political party in Egypt, says he was misled by the Canadian government, regrets “totally” his decision to invest in the country. He called on other international companies to look elsewhere and not invest in Canada.
“I tell you we will not bid – unless they set aside the frequencies, unless they really show seriousness that they want to create competition,” Sawiris told The Globe and Mail’s editorial board Thursday. “But to say, ‘We want to create competition, we want your money.’ They take our money and they leave us to the dogs.”
In 2008, Sawiris bankrolled Wind’s chairman Anthony Lacavera to buy $442-million in government wireless licences, and then pumped hundreds of millions more into building a wireless network in major Canadian cities.
Desmond Shephard
