South Africa’s Communications Ministry said on Monday it had pushed back by two months to October 31 the deadline for bids for a 51% stake in a licence for a new telecoms operator to rival Telkom.
”The telecoms markets are really not on our side. We decided to extend the deadline believing we can use the whole of September to mobilise international interest,” said ministry spokesman Robert Nkuna.
He said the delay might mean the licence to compete with Telkom — which the government plans to list by next March — may only being awarded next year.
South Africa had previously set August 30 as the deadline for bids from foreign operators for the 51 percent stake. Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri had said that that would mean the licence would be awarded later in the year, and possibly in December.
The minister is expected to announce the winner of a 19 percent stake in the licence, set aside for black businesses, later this week. Another 30% has been earmarked for the telecoms arms of state power and transport utilities Eskom and Transnet. – Reuters