(Ecofin Agency) - During a press conference organised on 5^th October 2015 at the El Moudjahid forum, the Minister of Post and ICT, Iman Houda Feraoun (photo), declared that it was not an option to have Algérie Telecom go public. “This is a strategic area for the state”, she highlighted. However, based on the government’s will to galvanise the national financial market, opening 20% of the capital of mobile operator Mobilis, subsidiary of Algérie Telecom, on the Algiers stock market is still under consideration.

But to avoid foreign investments finding their way into the shareholding structure of the historical telecommunications operator, through Mobilis, Iman Houda Feraoun explained that the position of the telecom company will be reviewed with relation to its parent company. The Minister of ICT indicated that there is the possibility that Mobilis, which a subsidiary competing with Algérie Telecom, could separated or transformed into an economic grouping. The idea is supposedly currently under review.

Indeed, by separating Algérie Telecom from Mobilis, the government will end up with two public companies. One specialised in landline communications and ADSL, the other specialised in mobile communications and mobile Internet. Algérie Telecom would guarantee the sovereignty of the State in the telecom sector while Mobilis could become a real investment engine to compete with other telecom operators.