India’s state-owned operator Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) is looking at a possible acquisition of a 51% stake in Zimbabwe’s state-owned operator TelOne for an undisclosed sum, The Economic Times reports quoting a senior executive aware of the…
India’s state-owned operator Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) is looking at a possible acquisition of a 51% stake in Zimbabwe’s state-owned operator TelOne for an undisclosed sum, The Economic Times reports quoting a senior executive aware of the situation.
The MTNL executive was quoted saying that Zimbabwe was keen to offload a 51% stake in TelOne and since the operator holds a GSM licence, it fits well with MTNL’s plans to enter the African mobile market.
According to previous reports, TelOne received a licence last year, but no deadline for the roll-out of services had been set because of the financial difficulties the operator was facing. There are currently three mobile companies operating in Zimbabwe: Econet, Telecel and NetOne.
The acquisition will reportedly be made through MTNL’s fully-owned unit Mahanagar Telephone Mauritius Ltd (MTML).
The head of MTML, Sanjay Garg, reportedly confirmed the talks with the Zimbabwean government, but a transaction is only expected to take place after GSM operations are launched by the end of the year.
MTNL was not immediately available for comments.
