Sudan Telecom

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Sudan Telecom was created in November 1992 from the assets of the state-owned company Sudan Telecommunication Public Corporation (STPC) to provide the basic telephone services (local and long distance) in the country. Sudan Telecom was created as a public shareholders' company and founder-shares in Sudan Telecom each went for a minimum of US$100,000. The equity of Sudan Telecom was 35% owned by local banks and other institutions, while the government kept the remaining 65%. The significant equity participation of the government was the result of the lack of interest of private investors in Sudan Telecom. However, the government limited itself to a supervisory role within Sudan Telecom by capping its representation on the Board of Directors at 20% regardless of its ownership level. The government granted Sudan Telecom a concession encompassing commercially viable towns, including the capital of Khartoum, and awarded a 15 year monopoly over international communications, renewable every five years thereafter. Sudan Telecom was also exempt from import duties and certain taxes. In March of 1999, Emirates Telecommunications Corp (Etisalat) of the UAE purchased a 7.5% stake in Sudan Telecom, paying around 45 million dirhams (US$12.3 million). The sale was part of Sudan Telecom's plan to raise capital, enabling it to pursue an ambitious US$620 million investment programme over five years. Germany's Siemens also owned a small stake in the company and had carried out much of Sudan Telecom's network expansion. In the year 2000 and early 2001, MSI Cellular concluded the purchase of 2 million shares (10%) in Sudan Telecom and became the second largest shareholder of Sudan Telecom next to the government of Sudan. In April 2003, Sudan Telecom listed 20% of its shares, valued at US$75 million, on the Abu Dhabi Securities Market. The government retained 35.5%. Sudan Telecom awarded German vendor Siemens a US$21.9 million contract for the expansion of its telephony network in July 2002. The Croatian unit of Swedish telecom equipment maker Ericsson, Ericsson Nikola Tesla, signed a 12 mln euro (US$14.2 million) contract to upgrade the fixed-line network of Sudan Telecom in May of 2003. In April 2004, the Bahrain offshore banking unit of Riyadh-based Arab Investment Company (AIC) arranged a US$40 million Islamic financing facility for Sudan Telecom to finance the expansion and upgrade of its fixed-line network. Joining the deal at syndication were Amlak Finance of the UAE, African Export-Import Bank, Dubai Islamic Bank, Investment Bank of Khartoum and National Bank of Kuwait. The four-year loan carried a grace period of two years. In December of 2004, National Telecommunications Corporation, the telecoms sector regulator, awarded a licence to set up a second fixed-line telephone network in Sudan to a consortium led by Emirates Telecommunications Corporation (Etisalat) of the UAE, ending Sudan Telecom's 12 year monopoly. Sudan Telecom was also awarded a license to operate a mobile phone network to compete with private mobile operators Mobitel and Areeba. As of 2006, the project was operational, though Sudan Telecom did not announce the number of subscribers or coverage areas. Sudatel paid $230 million to upgrade its fixed-wireless access (FWA) 'limited mobility' licence to a full mobile network concession. The company had about 500,000 lines by end 2001 and 1.1 million by end 2005. In 2004, it projected that it would have about 1.25 million lines within three years. As of July 2008, No data for 2007 By July 2012, no information on investment amounts were available. http://www.sudatel.net/en/atopic.asp?artID=46&aCK=EB Sudatel refers to itself as Sudan Telecom, not Sudatel in corporate information, and uses Sudatel as marketing name. Investment in 2006 from the Abu Dhabi Securities Market http://portal.adsm.ae/wps/portal/!ut/p/_s.7_0_A/7_0_GI/.cmd/ad/.ar/sa.cmpFinancials/.ps/X/.c/6_0_9Q/.ce/7_0_JH/.p/5_0_9Q/.d/9?symbol=SUDATEL&fsy=2004&fsp=AN&fst=&x=28&y=13