LONDON-Seven international operators will compete for two new GSM licenses that will allow them to offer mobile services in Lebanon during the next 20 years. The bidding process drew to a close last week amid speculation that none of the bids would meet the government’s targets.
Bids were submitted by Libancell, Wataniya Telecom, Mobile Telecommunications Company, Investcom Holding, Orange, OTE and Detecon. However, industry observers believe that the Lebanese government is unlikely to accept less than $1.6 billion for each license as it looks for additional revenues to reduce mounting public debt. It was hoped that the privatization of mobile-phone networks would raise more than $3 billion.
