The government of Mali is about to launch its fourth mobile telephony licence by March 2016. This was due to Atel SA (Alpha Telecom SA), holder of the third licence since 2012, delaying in the launching of its network.

Mali’ authorities lost interest in the project of Appolinaire Compaoré and decided to move on. Contacted by the magazine Les Afriques, a source involved confirmed government’s decision saying: “We lost a lot of time with this operator so we are launching a new international call to offers for the awarding of fourth licence”.

In March 2015, during a press conference, the administration of Atel SA however revealed that most of its sites had been built, that it was advancing in its implementation, that it paid all FCFA55 billion required for the licence, and that it was soon to start operation in Mali. In April 2015, the firm had even received a FCFA10 billion loan from West African Development Bank to buy the equipment needed for deploying. Chinese telecom manufacturer Huawei in was the one to insure provision and implementation of Atel SA’s network.

Despite all the guarantees, Atel SA could not effectively deploy its network which Malians were longing for hoping it would give them a wider range of services in this market currently dominated by Orange and Sotelma/Malitel.