/ 18 October 2000

MOROCCO’S MEDITEL RAISES $1bn DEVELOPMENT LOAN

MOROCCAN mobile phone operator Meditel has arranged a $1bn syndicated loan to finance expansion of its telecoms development projects. Casablanca-based Meditel was set up last year by a consortium led by Spain’s Telefonica after it was awarded a $1.1bn licence to operate the second cellular phone network in Morocco. Meditel launched its GSM mobile phone services in April 2000. The company has more than 450000 subscribers and expects to have close to 2.0 million subscribers by 2004. – Reuters