Wataniya Telecom Maldives Pvt. Ltd.

completed

Wataniya Telecom, the second cellular operator in Kuwait, currently serving 3.2 million subscribers in the MENA region, was awarded the second nationwide GSM license in the Maldives through its local subsidiary Wataniya Maldives Private Limited (WTM or the company) in November 2004 for a license fee of $1 million. The license award was the result of an open, competitive auction with other bidders including Telekom Malaysia, Syriatel Mobile Telecom and the Bharat Consortium. The project consists of the financing of network roll-out and related start-up losses as well as a fiber optic submarine cable, for a total estimated project cost of $70 million equivalent. IFC has been asked to provide a senior loan of $17.5 million, to be complemented by a similar $7 million loan from the OPEC Fund and a revolving facility of $5 million from the Bank of Maldives.