ECA Receives 12 Expression of Interest For Telecom License in Ethiopia

The Ethiopian Communications Authority officially announced that it received 12 submissions, of which 9 are telecom operators and 2 are non-telecom operators and 1 incomplete submission.

ECA has launched the request for Expressions of Interest (EOI) for two new telecommunications licenses in Ethiopia last on May 21 and the last day of submission was June 22.

The 9 applications from Telecom operators include the Global Partnership for Ethiopia (a consortium of telecom operators made of Vodafone, Vodacom, and Safaricom) as well us Etisalat, Axian, MTN, Orange, Saudi Telecom Company, Telkom SA, Liquid Telecom and Snail Mobile. The other two non-telecom operators are Kandu Global Telecommunications and Electromecha International Projects.

In the Expression of Interest, the prospective bidders were requested to provide information on their organizational structure, global operating footprint, details of countries of operation,number of mobile phone subscribers, and other relevant information that can help the authorities assess the strength of potential bidders and determine the adequate level of qualification criteria to select the type of operators that would fit best into the Ethiopian market.

The two nationwide telecommunications service licenses will be awarded to two qualified telecommunications companies selected through a competitive bidding process in accordance with the Communications Service Proclamation No.1148/2019.