Page 133 - SAMENA Trends - January-February 2023

REGULATORY & POLICY UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

its sister company Radiografica Costarricense (RACSA) Liberty Costa Rica has the rights to 100.6MHz worth of
holds a 100MHz block of 3.5GHz spectrum. Claro frequencies. (February 2, 2023) www.commsupdate.com
Costa Rica holds a total of 100MHz of spectrum, while

Croatia has begun its multi-band spectrum auction [USD7.6 million])
which is offering frequencies in the 800MHz, 900MHz, • 880MHz-915MHz/925MHz-960MHz (EUR7 million)
1800MHz, 2100MHz, 2.6GHz and 3.5GHz bands. The • 1710MHz-1785MHz/1805MHz-1880MHz (EUR2 mil-
sale will take place in two stages, the first including na- lion)
Croatia tional licenses in all bands except 3.5GHz, with this fol- • 920MHz-1980MHz/2110MHz-2170MHz (EUR2 mil-
lowed by a separate auction of regional 3.5GHz conces- lion)
sions. The country’s three incumbent cellcos – Hrvatski • 2 5 0 0 MH z - 2 5 7 0 MH z /2 6 2 0 MH z - 2 6 9 0 MH z
Telekom (HT), A1 and Telemach – are all pre-qualified (EUR700,000)
to bid in the first stage, while local ISPs Digicom and • The total starting price of all bidding blocks for na-
Markoja have come forward to participate in the 3.5GHz tional coverage is EUR154.8 million. Licenses will be
sale. The national licenses on offer and the starting valid for 15 years, with an optional five-year extension.
price per 2×5MHz block are: (January 17, 2023) www.commsupdate.com
• 791MHz-821MHz/832MHz-862MHz (EUR7 million

The Electricity and Telecommunications blocks of 2×5MHz: 1755MHz-1760MHz/2155MHz-
Superintendency (Superintendencia General de 2160MHz, 1760MHz-1765MHz/2160MHz-2165MHz,
Electricidad y Telecom, SIGET) has said that it will hold the and 1765MHz-1770MHz/2165MHz-2170MHz. SIGET
previously announced public tender for mobile spectrum has set a minimum bid price of USD21.66 million for the
El Salvador in the 1755MHz-1770MHz/2155MHz-2170MHz frequencies. The move to hold the spectrum auction
(Extended AWS) frequency range on 7 February, after the follows a request from mobile network operator (MNO)
December launch was postponed. A total of 30MHz will Telefonica Moviles El Salvador (Movistar).
now be auctioned off next month, divided up into three (January 19, 2023) www.commsupdate.com

Ethiopia’s government is looking to move forward with The Ethiopian Communications Authority (ECA) is
the partial privatization of incumbent telecoms operator preparing to invite Expressions of Interest (EoI) from
Ethio Telecom, and to that end has published a Request would-be telecoms licensees early next month, Capital
for Proposal (RfP) inviting ‘proposals from interested Ethiopia reports, citing comments by Balcha Reba, the
Ethiopia parties who can add value to the Company by bringing watchdog’s Director General. The article quotes Mr.
in best practices in terms of operations, infrastructure Reba as saying: ‘ECA has now resumed the licensing
management and next generation technological process for a third license – or the second new full-
capabilities’. It is understood that the government service nationwide telecommunications license …
is now offering a 45% stake in Ethio Telecom, with We have invited different international consultation
the Ministry of Finance (MoF) having confirmed that companies to evaluate the document.’ The licensing
companies interested in obtaining the RfP will be process was suspended more than twelve months ago,
required to pay a non-refundable fee of USD200,000. with the regulator pausing its efforts to attract a third
The MoF has set a deadline of 23 February 2023 for operator on 22 December 2021. In May 2021 Ethiopia’s
requests, while also confirming that the tender is open Ministry of Finance (MoF) and the ECA named Global
to any interested party, notably specifying that it is ‘not Partnership for Ethiopia (GPE), a private consortium
limited to those companies who indicated their interest comprising Safaricom, Vodafone Group, Vodacom
by submitting an expression of interest’. In November Group, CDC Group and Sumitomo Corporation, as the
2022 the MoF restarted the stalled process of offering winning bidder for one of two nationwide concessions
a stake in Ethio Telecom, though at that time it said it that it had put up for grabs. The newcomer went on
was looking to engage with prospective bidders for a to stage a full commercial launch in October 2022,
40% stake in the telco. Prior to that, in March 2022 the under the Safaricom Ethiopia name. In November
MoF had revealed the partial privatization process had 2022, meanwhile, the MoF issued an EoI for the partial
been postponed ‘given the recent developments and privatization of incumbent telecoms provider Ethio
fast-moving macroeconomic changes both globally and Telecom. (January 5, 2023) www.commsupdate.com
from a country perspective’.
(February 13, 2023) www.commsupdate.com
133 JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2023