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Rwanda: Country Set to License Third Operator Print E-mail
Tuesday, 24 June 2008

Rwanda is set to invite bids for a third telecommunications operator. A third operator could help meet the government’s goal of having at least 5 million GSM subscribers by 2012.

President Paul Kagame said that four companies have informally expressed interest. The four companies include Orascom, an unidentified Israel company, Korea Telecom and Zain International, which operates the Celtel brand in sub-Saharan Africa.

Mr. Kagame said, "By the end of the month we shall officially announce invitation for bids for the third license for mobile and fixed line telecommunication. I have been informally approached on different occasion by these companies. If they are interested they are open to come and express their interest formally."

Romain Murenzi, the Minister in the Office of the President in Charge of Science, Technology, Research and ICT said that a tender process will begin in three or four months. The third license is expected to be awarded to a GSM operator.

Currently Rwanda has only one GSM operator, MTN Rwanda. The other operator, Rwandatel, uses CDMA technology. MTN Rwanda has 600,000 subscribers, a 95% market share. Roughly 90% of calls initiated from the Rwandatel network terminate on the MTN Rwanda network.

Source: The Monitor - WDR/Intelecon Regulatory News.