Mozambique to licence third mobile operator

Mozambique’s government has opened a tender to licence a third mobile operator, with bids due by July 6. The communications authority will then have 60 days to evaluate the tenders with the winner expected to be licenced by year end. A fee of US$25 million is applicable once the successful bidder has received the licence.

Bidders are required to have a bank guarantee of US$2 million before they can acquire tender documents, which will be refunded to unsuccessful bidders. Participating parties must also prove they have at least US$30 million worth of net assets and annual revenues exceeding US$50 million.

M-Cel currently leads the market in Mozambique with 66 per cent market share and four million subscribers. Vodacom follows with an additional two million customers to make a total of six million mobile connections. The country has a population of approximately 21.7 million.