SA-based mobile telecommunications company Econet Wireless has finally been granted a concession by the Kenyan government to start operating in the East African country, says Econet Wireless executive director Zachary Wazara.
The company signed an agreement with the Kenyan government last week, formalising an amicable out-of-court settlement regarding a dispute about its mobile operating licence.
Econet was awarded a mobile operating licence in early 2003, which was cancelled in 2004 after a tiff arose with the Kenyan government regarding licensing regulation issues.
The Kenyan telecommunications licensing law stipulates that Kenyan stakeholders must hold a minimum 30% of communication investments.
The then ICT minister Raphael Tuju claimed Econet had failed to accommodate a local group, the Kenyan National Federation of Co-operatives (KNFC), in its shareholding.
Econet had refused to accommodate the KNFC on the grounds that it had failed to pay for its shares.
Econet subsequently went to court in an attempt get the minister`s decision set aside, delaying the launch of Kenya`s third mobile operator, explains an Econet Wireless press release.
Last week, new Kenyan ICT minister Mutahi Kagwe said the licence, which had been cancelled by his predecessor, had been re-instated by the government.
The government has given Econet the "green light" to proceed with the construction of the network, he said.
Sure Kamhunga, spokesperson for Econet Wireless, says the company has already begun to gather supplies and expertise to develop the network. "The network should be up and running by the first quarter of 2008."
It will be the third mobile network operating in Kenya, after Celtel Kenya and Safaricom.
Econet has operations in the core areas of mobile and fixed telephony, Internet and satellite services in seven African countries, and in the UK and New Zealand.
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