Vodafone Qatar, the second mobile phone operator in Qatar, has borrowed QR436.4m (US$120m) from its UK parent company Vodafone using a revolving credit facility.
The operator will use the money to expand its network across Qatar and to improve the…
Vodafone Qatar, the second mobile phone operator in Qatar, has borrowed QR436.4m (US$120m) from its UK parent company Vodafone using a revolving credit facility.
The operator will use the money to expand its network across Qatar and to improve the network’s capacity to carry high-speed mobile internet.
The company borrowed the money in the first half of May. It revealed the loan in its full-year results, which it published on 17 May.
Vodafone Qatar posted a loss of QR361.5m for the 12 months to the end of March. It generated revenues of QR673.4m over the same period and had 460,000 customers on the 31 March.
Vodafone Qatar competes with Qtel, the state-owned mobile and fixed-line operator which enjoyed a telecoms monopoly in Qatar until the government gave a mobile phone licence to Vodafone Qatar on 23 June 2008.
The company also revealed that it will get a fixed-line licence from the government in June after it changes its articles of association. It will pay QR10m for the new licence.
The UK’s Vodafone owns 30% of Vodafone Qatar, the Qatar Foundation, a state-owned charity, owns a further 30% and the remaining 40% is listed on the Qatar Exchange.