- Title: Syria awards third mobile telecoms licence to Wafa
- Date: 21st February 2022
- Summary: DAMASCUS, SYRIA (FEBRUARY 21, 2022) (REUTERS) NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS SIGN READING (Arabic): "THE LAUNCH OF THE THIRD MOBILE TELECOMS OPERATOR" (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SYRIAN MINISTER OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS, IYAD AL-KHATIB, SAYING: "I am pleased to announced that on this day February 22, 2022 we are awarding a third license to the Wafa telecoms company and the start of operations for the third telecoms company in Syria." MANGER OF THE WAFA PROJECT, CAROLINE ZOLKOT, SEATED DURING NEWS CONFERENCE MEDIA MEMBERS AND COMPANY REPRESENTATIVES SEATED DURING NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) CEO OF WAFA TELECOM, GHASSAN SABA, SAYING: "During the first two years we will count on the two other networks using national roaming because we have a plan to launch a network ourselves. We cannot launch the whole network all over Syria at once, so we will cover the main areas. We will rely on the networks of the other telecom operators in other areas and main streets until our networks become ready." SABA SPEAKING TO REPORTERS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) CEO OF WAFA TELECOM, GHASSAN SABA, SAYING: "The other two operators have many subscribers, around 16 million with a percentage of 72%. Of course we have not reached saturation. In some countries the percentage of saturation, meaning the number of subscribers, reached 200% where many subscribers have two SIMs or more. We will count on our new methods and we will make a plan to use 5G exclusively until the end of 2025, and we also have the capabilities to operate using TD LTE for the next three years." VARIOUS EXTERIORS OF THE SYRIAN TELECOMMUNICATIONS ASSOCIATION TELECOMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT VARIOUS OF SYRIA TELECOM STORE VARIOUS EXTERIORS OF MTN STORE MOTORISTS ON STREET IN DAMASCUS SYRIAN FLAG ONE MAN TAKING A PHOTO OF ANOTHER GIRLS LAUGHING WHILE TALKING TO EACH OTHER MOTORISTS ON ROAD
- Embargoed: 7th March 2022 13:55
- Keywords: Syria Wafa mobile telecom
- Location: DAMASCUS, SYRIA
- City: DAMASCUS, SYRIA
- Country: Syria
- Topics: Company News Markets,Economic Events,Middle East
- Reuters ID: LVA001FZMB53H
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Syria's telecommunications authority has awarded Wafa Telecom a licence to be the country's third mobile telecoms operator on Monday (February 21).
Syrian Minister of Telecommunications Iyad al Khatib told parliament last week that Wafa would begin its services over the next nine months. Influential businessmen with close ties to government officials are key investors in the company, two senior businessmen said.
The new company enters a market where the main operator is Syriatel, which has over 11 million subscribers. The other smaller operator, MTN Syria in which South Africa's MTN Group has a stake, has had government lawsuits filed against it.
Last month, the state telecommunications authority finalised Wafa's draft licence but did not include the financial details of the new licence, which officials have for the last few years planned to announce.
Officials say Iranian investors are not among the shareholders, although Iran's telecom industry is expected to win tenders to supply the infrastructure, according to two Damascus-based businessmen familiar with the deal.
Both countries had signed an agreement in January 2017 that opened the door for the Mobile Telecommunication Company of Iran (MCI), the country's leading operator, to win the concession. However, that deal never transpired, according to a Damascus-based senior businessman.
(Production: Firas Makdesi, Kinda Makieh) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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