Vodafone Group is preparing to bid for a new mobile phone licence in Zambia that will enable it to add voice services to its data product in the country, Bloomberg reported, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter. Winning the auction would give Vodafone a way of expanding Zambia operations run by local partner Afrimax, said the person, who asked not to be identified as the company has not made its intentions public. At an appropriate and opportune time, Vodafone Zambia will make a comprehensive statement, Vodafone Zambia spokesman Mukuka Mulenga said.
The successful bidder would be competing with MTN Zambia, with more than a 48 percent market share, Airtel Zambia and state-owned Zamtel. The government has given the green light to Zambia’s telecommunications regulator to start the process of awarding a fourth mobile phone licence, Transport and Communications Minister Brian Mushimba said on 18 September. The new operator could be in place within a year, he said.
The impending auction represents a rare opportunity for international mobile phone companies to expand in a growing African market without making an acquisition. Zambia had 12.4 million active mobile subscribers at the end of June, 10 percent more than a year before, according to data from the finance ministry.
