(Ecofin Agency) - In Cote d’Ivoire, telecom regulatory authority ARTCI withdrew the operating licences of GreenN Network, Comum, Café Mobile and Warid Telecom. A decision which has been pending since last year. The regulator sanctioned the operators for failing to pay significant royalties, providing services of poor quality according to consumers, having a low network coverage and a low level of investment as well.

Though the withdrawal means ceasing of activities for Comium, Café Mobile and Warid Telecom, GreenN for its part still has some hope. According to the director general of the subsidiary of Lybian Post and Telecommunication Information Technology Company (LPTIC), Abul Ramadan, the firm agreed to be withdrawn its 2G licence, which was expiring on March 27, 2016, because it currently eyes 4G to compete with MTN, Orange and Etisalat in Cote d’Ivoire. GreenN has indeed applied to the call to offer launched by the government for awarding 4G licence to the country’s fourth telecom operator. Negotiations seem to be going well, according to Abul Ramadan.

Moreover, GreenN promised to correct the shortcomings for which government withdrew the licences. Last year, GreenN’s parent company said it would invest at least $150 million to restart the firm’s activities. At a press conference held on March 2, 2016, the firm’s employees revealed that a third of $9 billion royalty to Public Treasury has been paid. Mid-February, Faisal Gergab, LPTIC’s president visiting Cote d’Ivoire to reaffirm Libya’s desire to remain in the Ivorian market, presented Bruno Nabagne Koné, Ivorian minister for post and digital economy, GreenN’s development plan.

Muriel EDJO