Orascom Telecom Holding SAE (OTH) has agreed terms to renew the licence of its ''Mobilink'' branded Pakistani GSM subsidiary for an additional 15 years starting after the expiry of its current licence in July 2007 and ending July 2022.
This important agreement was reached just before Mobilink added its three millionth subscriber.
To secure the licence renewal, Mobilink commits to total licence fee payments of $291 million to be paid either in US currency or in Pakistani rupees.
The first half of the licence fee equivalent to $145.5 million is due on July 2007 with the remaining amount to be paid in 10 equal annual instalments in the following 10 years.
Mobilink is now and intends to remain the leading telecommunication service-provider in Pakistan.
The company''s subscriber base grew from one million in February 2003 to two million in December of the same year to over three million now, representing an impressive 50 percent growth in subscribers in just seven months.
Mobilink currently has a commanding 63 percent market share in Pakistan''s four-layer cellular market, and intends to maintain its leadership position in the development of new products and services based on its highly advanced knowledge of retail and corporate customers.
Using its GPRS/EDGE enabled network, Mobilink plans to launch innovative services, and mobile applications such as games, video clips, etc, and introduce MMS multimedia messaging.
Orascom Telecom Holding Chairman and CEO Naguib Sawiris said: "Surpassing three million subscribers in Pakistan is an important milestone for Orascom Telecom which demonstrates our commitment to continuously investing in the Pakistani market.
The extension of the licence provides the Orascom Telecom with the stability and confidence to expand telecommunication services to reach the maximum number of people in Pakistan.
The OTH remains fully committed, in its strategy of fast and profitable growth, to focusing on its core operations."
He said the Orascom Telecom Holding was established in 1998, and has grown to become the leading GSM network operator in the Middle East, Africa, and Pakistan. Starting with MobiNil in Egypt, the Orascom Telecom continued to expand its GSM licences, and now also covers Algeria, Iraq, Pakistan, Tunisia, Congo Brazzaville, DRC, and Zimbabwe, he added.
The company''s subscriber base has continued to grow to reach over nine million subscribers at the end of June 2004 as a result of its aggressive strategy to be the primary GSM network operator in the region, he said.
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