Dec 25 , 2021
The Ethiopian Communications Authority has suspended the bidding process for the second private telecom operator's license. Last September, the Authority had issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) from prospective investors interested in acquiring the license, dubbed "License B," with the deadline set for last week. Its officials had also stated they expected to issue the license by January 2022. The tender for the first operator's license saw two bidders, MTN and the Safaricom-led consortium, though officials had hoped more investors would show interest. Safaricom won the 15-year license after offering 850 million dollars. The other bidder failed to obtain a license as its 600 million dollar offer was deemed inadequate by the authorities. Safaricom Ethiopia is finalising preparations to begin operations in early 2022.