Zain Tanzania, part of Kuwait's Zain (ZAIN.KW), plans to give up its 35 percent stake in state-run Tanzania Telecommunication Co (TTCL), the east African nation's technology minister said on Monday.
"Recently, Celtel has shown interest in exiting. But there's need for consultation before that happens," said Peter Msolla, minister for communications, science and technology.
Msolla made the remarks while presenting his ministry's budget in Dodoma. Zain was originally known as Celtel when the then-Dutch firm bought its stake in TTCL in 2004, and the Tanzanian government has retained that name in its records.
Msolla said Zain, TTCL and Consolidated Holdings Corp, which holds shares in state-run corporations on the government's behalf, met late last week over the matter.
"In principle, they have agreed to end the partnership and Celtel exits. Celtel's 35 percent shareholding will revert to the government. We will continue talks on how to offload those shares," he said.
The government holds the other 65 percent of TTCL. Zain is in talks with potential buyers for a stake in its African operations, but it denied earlier this month that it had reached a deal to sell the unit to Vivendi (VIV.PA.
TTCL had a monopoly in fixed-line phone services that ended in 2005. It has long been plagued by complaints from customers over inefficient services.
After peaking at 236,493 fixed-line users in 2007, its customers fell to 116,265 by end of 2008 before picking up to 170,021 in March, according to data from regulator Tanzania Telecommunications Regulatory Authority.
TTCL started mobile phone services in 2008, picking up 105,804 customers in the first year. As of March, it had 121,233 mobile users.
Tanzania, a nation of 40 million people, had 13.1 million phone subscribers at the end of 2008. This had jumped to 14 million by the end of March, with 99 percent of them being mobile customers.
Last week the government said it had reached an amicable agreement with SaskTel International, a subsidiary of Canada's SaskTel, to end a three-year contract to manage TTCL. The pact, entered into in 2007, was worth up to $5 million.
"They left officially on July 12, so now it's like TTCL is starting afresh and is under interim leadership," Msolla said.
DAR ES SALAAM, July 20 (Reuters) -
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2 comments:
Why privatizing TTCL while was making profit? People should not eye old parastatal organisations and use their powers to privatize them for their personal interest. Look Zain and Zantel have benefited from the dubious deal by using TTCL infrastructures and lines. If I can use What Mzee Misanga calculated in the Parliament, How many people are now suffering from the uneccessary retrenchment? 1,500 workers retrenched x 6 avarage members per family that is 9,000. Lazima tuwe wazalendo zaidi. Waraka wa Mzee Kingunge katika Mkutano Mkuu Maalum wa mwaka 1997 ulitupwa kapuni? Sisi tunajua bwana uroho tu wa watu wachache kutaka kujitajirisha. Muwarudishe wafanyakazi waliopunguzwa na tuliimarishe shirika letu. Litakuwa bora kushinda mengine wameirika zaidi sasa kuliko huko nyuma.
Mtoa maoni hapo juu kweli umeongea vitu vya maana, sizani maamuzi yote yanayofanywa na serikali yetu kweli yana lengho la kumsaidia mtanzania
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