Egyptian mobile phone operator Orascom Telecom (OT) has failed to pay the first installment to Wireless technology giant Motorola Inc. for the acquisition of Motorola’s 29 percent share in Egyptian cellular operator MobiNil. The $101 million deal was sealed in January 2001 and the first payment was due eight months ago, in January 2002. The companies are reportedly in negotiations to reschedule the payment terms.
Orascom Telecom Holding returned to profitability in the first quarter of 2002, posting a net profit of 3.1 million Egyptian pounds ($670,000). With twenty-one licenses, telecom and Internet services operator conglomerate OT is the largest GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) network operator in the emerging markets of the Middle East, Africa, and Indian sub-continent. The company was awarded a GSM license in Tunisia in March 2002.
Egyptian businessman Naguib Sawiris owns some 60 percent of OT, while the remaining shares are traded on the Cairo and London stock markets. The company was launched in 1998 in partnership with telecommunications giants France Telecom and Motorola for the purpose of creating Mobinil, the first privately owned mobile network in Egypt. — (menareport.com)
© 2002 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
