Lebanon is aiming to allow international firms to bid for management over either of its state-owned mobile networks by September, according to the country’s telecoms minister.
According to local news outlet The Daily Star, Minister Talal Hawat said that once the necessary documents were complete, he would “present it to Cabinet and the tender department to take the necessary measures in order to launch the tender.”
In May this year, Lebanon’s Cabinet granted the Ministry of Telecommunications (MoT) temporary authority over two of the country’s mobile network operators, Alfa and Touch. At the time, Hawat suggested that the contract tender was on track to begin in August.
Egypt’s Orascom Investment Holding (OIH) and Kuwait’s Zain Group were the respective managing companies of Alfa and Touch. At the end of last year, both conglomerates were told that their short-term rolling contracts would come to an end; however, both are likely to bid on contracts in the upcoming tender.
