A $27-million bid by a South African consortium topped the auction to become Kenya’s third mobile phone provider, the industry regulator announced on Friday.
Econet Wireless Group led the bidding over three other firms, said the Communications Commission of Kenya after it opened the bids in the capital Nairobi.
The firm is a consortium of Econet Wireless International, Rapsel Ltd. and the Kenya National Federation of Cooperatives.
It beat out bids by Germany’s Detecom International GmbH, the Netherlands’ MSI Cellular Investment Holdings BV, and Telsar Solutions Ltd of South Africa.
Kenya’s mobile phone industry has boomed in the three years since the sector was liberalised, with more than 1,6-million subscribers.
The two existing networks are KenCell — led by France’s Vivendi International — and Safaricom, a joint venture between Britain’s Vodafone and the state-owned Telkom Kenya.
The third licence is to be officially issued on December 4 after a period for interventions. – Sapa-DPA