Bahrain-based Bintel wins fourth Congo mobile licence

Equateur Telecom Congo (ETC), a subsidiary of Bahrain-headquartered Bintel, has won the fourth mobile operating licence in the Republic of Congo. Bintel currently operates networks in Gabon, Central African Republic and Somalia.

According to data from the Mobile World database, Zain currently leads the market in Congo with a share of 49.7 per cent, followed by MTN with 41.9 per cent and Warid with 8.5 per cent. The mobile penetration rate is roughly 70 per cent.

Bintel launched its GSM network in Gabon last October under the brand name ‘Azur’. The company operates as ‘Nationlink’ in Central African Republic and Somaliland, where it launched networks in July 2007 and June 2008 respectively.

Bintel is also a major shareholder in Switzerland-based Telesonique, a wholesale traffic company.