HARARE: Zimbabwe’s telecoms regulator has cancelled the licence of the country’s number two mobile phone carrier, Telecel, a unit of Netherlands-based Vimpelcom, and has given it a month to stop its operations.
The Postal and Telecommunications Regulator of Zimbabwe (Potraz) did not give reasons for the cancellation, which came into effect on Tuesday.
But those in the know said on Wednesday that Telecel’s demise had become apparent after the ousting of vice-president Joice Mujuru from the government and the ruling party.
Ms Mujuru was the information, posts and telecommunications minister when Telecel got its licence, and her husband, Solomon Mujuru, was a close business associate of its chairman, James Makamba.
The cancellation of the licence comes amid reports that Isabel dos Santos, the wealthy daughter of the Angolan president, Jose Eduardo dos Santos, has been eyeing the mobile phone operator in Zimbabwe for some time.
In March this year it was reported that certain political bigwigs in Zimbabwe had been pushing for the ousting of an empowerment outfit led by the exiled Mr Makamba, to smoothen the way for Ms Dos Santos’ eventual takeover of the mobile phone company.
A group that includes President Robert Mugabe’s nephew, Patrick Zhuwao, has offered Mr Makamba’s Empowerment Corporation $20m to acquire 40% of the stake held by the group in Telecel. But the deal collapsed after an urgent court application by the Empowerment Corporation that disputed the valuation of the company.
Barclays Bank International valued Telecel Zimbabwe at $200m, which means the empowerment shareholding was worth $73m and not $20m.
Telecel, which is 60%-owned by Vimpelcom, has 2.5-million subscribers. It has so far failed to pay a $137.5m fee to renew its 20-year licence in 2013, leading the government to threaten a switch-off earlier in the year.
“In order to facilitate the smooth switch-off of the Telecel Zimbabwe network as well as ensuring that disruption is minimised, Potraz concurrently issued a special licence to Telecel to continue providing telecommunications services for a period of 30 days,” Potraz said.Telecel said the measure was “unfair and unwarranted”.
“Telecel has made every effort possible to comply with all legal and governmental requirements in Zimbabwe, and objects to this treatment in the strongest terms,” the company said in a statement on Wednesday.Under Zimbabwe’s telecommunication laws, Telecel was entitled to appeal against its decision, Potraz said.
Telecel’s subscribers should switch to Zimbabwe’s rival networks, it suggested.Econet Wireless is the largest mobile network while NetOne, which is wholly owned by the government, is the smallest of the three.
