Digital Mobile Phone to Be Introduced in Yemen [Archives:2000/34/Local News]

SANAA_ The Yemeni government has approved the Sabaa Phone Company to execute a digital mobile phone project before the end of the year, said a source at the Telecommunications Ministry here on Saturday.
Under the project, capital Sanaa, Aden and other main cities will be covered by the mobile phone network within one year, and the network will extend to the rest of the country in a couple of years, the source said.Under a contract between the company and the government, Sabaa Phone Company will pay the government 10 million U.S. dollars for the operation permission, he added. To head off monopoly and guarantee high quality services, the government also allowed Space-tel Company, owned by investors from Yemen and Oman, to take part in the project. The Sabaa Phone Company is expected to spend roughly 50 million dollars in the first year, and the total investments may amount to 130 million dollars. The firm is owned by Yemeni Al-Ahmar Trade and Industry Company with a 41 percent stake, Egyptian Orascom Company with 32 percent stake, Greece Hailascom Company with 22 percent stake and the International Contractors Union Company with 5 percent stake. (Xinhua)

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