Egyptian mobile operator Mobinil has pre-selected four companies to bid for its mobile towers, according to the telco’s CEO.
Ives Gauthier told local publication Amwal Al Ghad that suitors include both companies operating in Egypt and outside of the…
Egyptian mobile operator Mobinil has pre-selected four companies to bid for its mobile towers, according to the telco’s CEO.
Ives Gauthier told local publication Amwal Al Ghad that suitors include both companies operating in Egypt and outside of the country.
The winning bidder is expected to be picked at the end of July and will rent or sell capacity on the sites to other operators in the market, which are Vodafone and Etisalat, he was quoted as saying.
Mobinil’s majority owner, French incumbent Orange, initiated the process of selling towers in the North African nation a few months back, to raise cash and focus on its core operations.
Mobinil posted net operating profits of E£71.4m (US$10m) and losses of E£177m (US$24.7m) in the first quarter of 2014.
Between 3,000 and 3,500 sites are part of the sale and the operator plans to offload about half of them while selling only the usage rights for the other half.
Several other tower sale processes are ongoing in Africa, including Airtel’s, MTN’s and Etisalat’s.
