Eight months after winning a licence to operate in Mozambique, cellular operator Vodacom has yet to launch operations in the country, leading to speculation that it may not take up the licence at all.
Vodacom won a bid for the second cellular licence in the country in mid-2002 and started negotiations with regulators and other operators in Mozambique eight months ago.
Now potential investors in Telkom, which owns 50% of Vodacom, and the Mozambique public are wondering what is causing the delay.
Radio stations in Mozambique have reportedly featured public debates on the issue of the new entrant after newspapers raised questions about Vodacom`s intentions.
According to the local media, Vodacom has not yet paid the licence fee that was due within a month after being awarded the licence, but has been given until February next year to start rolling out its network.
It has also been reported that the company is insisting that the current cellular operator, mCel, double its tariffs to facilitate Vodacom`s entry. The newspapers say Vodacom has refused to sign interconnect agreements with mCel and its parent company, state-owned fixed-line operator Telecommunications de Mozambique, until future tariffs are determined.
According to reports from the country, the possibility that a cellular competitor - introduced in order to lower prices - is lobbying for increases is not sitting well with the public.
Vodacom says entry into a new market simply takes a lot of time.
"We are still talking," says Mthobi Tyamzashe, Vodacom`s group executive for corporate affairs. "We have learnt from other countries that you need a great deal of patience to make progress and the talking is still going on."
Tyamzashe says the issues under discussion include interconnect but there are also other issues on the table. He refuses to comment on speculation that negotiations had deadlocked.
"Obviously we don`t want to create anything that will affect the deal so we really can only say that we have to see how it goes," he says.
The local regulator, the National Communications Institute of Mozambique, has refused to comment on the issue, saying only that the government may issue a statement shortly.
By the most recently available estimates, Mozambique, a country with a population of around 20 million, has only 100 000 cellular users. Should the country`s cellular growth hold true to that of SA, that market could increase fifty-fold.
Vodacom already operates in Lesotho, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is to hold the majority stake in Vodacom Mozambique.
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