The tender to take control of the Libya’s monopoly telecommunications operator has been delayed according to one of the companies in the running for the contract.
Ahmad Julfar, chief executive of United Arab Emirates-based Etisalat, told reporters in Abu Dhabi the deal to take over the state-owned Libyan Post, Telecommunication and Information Technology Co. (LIPTIC), had been put on hold.
“From their side, the government has put it on hold. We are yet to hear from them, but Libya is a good market,” Julfar told Reuters.
LIPTIC includes Libya’s two mobile operators Al-Madar and Libyana, as well as the primary internet provider.
More than US$1 billion of telecoms infrastructure was destroyed during the civil war in 2011 and it is thought the industry will ultimately move towards privatisation.
Joining Etisalat in the race to secure the tender are Saudi Telecom and Ooredoo, part of Qatar Telecom.
The potential Libyan deal is one of a number the telecommunications deals currently being negotiated in North Africa.
Etisalat, which among its growing African presence are more than 15 million subscribers in Nigeria, is trying to secure a deal to buy a 53 per cent stake in Moroccan operator Maroc Telecom, while in January the Tunisian government sold a further 15 per cent stake in Tunisiana, the country’s largest mobile operator, to Qatari Telecom.
