A spokesman for Fastlink said the mobile service provider is ready to be listed on the Amman bourse if asked by the Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) administration.
“We are ready to undertake such a step if requested by the bourse's management,” said Naguib Sawiris, chairman of Orascom Telecom, which owns 65 per cent of Fastlink.
“Jordan has extended all efforts to us to invest here, and we are ready to do anything that could boost its economy,” Sawiris, an Egyptian national, told the Jordan Times in an interview.
No communications firm in Jordan has yet been listed on the stock market.
Observers believe that listing communications firms could draw more local and foreign investors to the bourse which would reflect positively on the ASE's turnover and improve its general price index, which recorded a 17 point decline in the first six month of the year.
Sawiris said Fastlink, which will encounter competition for the first time in five years on September 15th, is not intending to enter into a “war” with MobileCom, a company owned by Jordan Telecom.
“We are not afraid of any competition,” Sawiris said.
“We believe it is a war between Arab management [which runs Fastlink] and French management [Jordan Telecom's strategic partner France Telecom], and we are sure that we will win,” said Sawiris.
MobileCom has won a government license to operate the second GSM mobile service in the Kingdom.
The new company is expected to benefit from France Telecom's experience in the field of mobile service.
Last year, France Telecom bought 30 per cent of the JTC's shares in line with the privatization policy Jordan is undertaking.
Sawiris said that almost 99 per cent of Fastlink employees are Jordanians, “whose performance we are proud of.”
Sawiris said Fastlink's major concern at this stage is to concentrate on extending top quality service to the greatest number of clients.
He did not rule out a gradual decline in Fastlink's calling rates as a result of the competition and the increase in the number of subscriptions.
He said that his firm is competing with two other firms to launch mobile services in Syria.
“We are awaiting good news from Syria and we are sure that we will have this chance,” he added.
“Orascom represents the Arab dream in the communications field. We have Jordanian and Saudi investors and other Arab investors are welcome to join us,” he said.
Sawiris indicated that the firm has submitted a request to the Palestinian National Authority to launch a second mobile service in the PNA-ruled areas.
Orascom Telecom is the largest GSM network operator in the Middle East and Africa in terms of the number of licenses in the region.
Currently, the company owns 18 licenses serving 400 million people in Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Yemen, Pakistan, Chad, Congo (Brazzaville), Democratic Republic of Congo, Benin, and other African nations.
The firm is part of the Orascom Group, founded by Onsi Sawiris in 1950.
Orascom has recently invested in a $250 million tourism project in Aqaba that will group hotels, airport and different beaches at many sites in Aqaba. — (Jordan Times)
By Tareq Ayyoub
© 2000 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
