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MTC
operations in the
Middle East and Africa
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| Kuwait
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Kenya |
| Jordan |
Malawi |
| Bahrain |
Niger |
| Iraq |
Republic
of Congo |
| Lebanon |
Sierra
Leone |
| Burkina
Faso |
Sudan |
| Chad |
Tanzania |
| Democratic
Republic of Congo |
Uganda |
| Gabon |
Zambia |
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WITHIN just
three years, MTC
has firmly established itself as a leading
player in the Middle East, where market
analysts predict growth of 85% in the telecom
sector by 2010. More recently, it has undertaken
a groundbreaking expansion to 13 African
nations.
In June 30,
2005, As a result of the acquisition of
Dutch-based Celtel Internat-ional B.V.,
which represented the single largest foreign
direct investment in African history, the
company registered a 306% customer increase
in relation to 2004. It now serves over
10.6 milion customers in over 18 countries
in the Middle East and Africa.
In Kuwait,
where it operates as MTC-Vodafone, it confirmed
its position as the leading mobile telecommunications
operator in June when it reached a total
of 1.3 million subscribers.
MTC entered
into a strategic partnership with Vodafone,
the world’s leading cellphone company
in 2002. The agreement was the first of
its kind in the Middle East.
MTC’s
first step towards becoming a regional company
was taken with the acquisition in January
2003 of a 91.6% equity interest in Jordan
Mobile Telephone Services Company (Fastlink).
In April 2003,
another MTC-Vodafone partnership was awarded
the second GSM license in Bahrain.
In October
2003, MTC was selected by the Coalition
Provisional Auth-ority in Iraq to install
and operate a GSM network within Southern
Iraq. Launched in March 2004, MTC-Atheer
completed the roll out of the 1120-mile
network coverage along the entire South-ern
Region, and has since extended its services
into Baghdad. The network will cover all
of Iraq by the end of 2006.
More than 650,000
customers have signed up to the service
and the figure is expected to increase to
1 million subscribers by September and 1.5
million by the end of this year when the
network will be expanded to offer full GPRS
service.
In June 2004
the government of Lebanon awarded MTC a
four-year contract to manage the cellular
network LibanCell. Now called MTC Touch,
the network has been upgraded with a new
Intelligent Network (IN).
Now an expanding
international company, MTC is continuing
to look for opportunities abroad and also
within its own region, whose low penetration
rate makes it a potentially lucrative market.
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