(Ecofin Agency) - The battle for Ethiopia's two new telecommunications licenses is going to be tough. According to the Ministry of Finance and the Ethiopian Communications Authority (ECA), a total of 11 companies are in the running for the licenses.

Bidders include Global Partnership for Ethiopia (a consortium of telecom operators consisting of Vodafone, Vodacom, and Safaricom), Etisalat, Axian, MTN, Orange, Saudi Telecom Company, Telkom SA, Liquid Telecom, Snail Mobile and the two non-telecom operators (Kandu Global Telecommunications and Electromecha International Projects).

Each of these companies was required to provide the Ministry of Finance and ECA with information on their organizational structure, global operational footprint, details of countries of operation, number of mobile subscribers and other relevant information that will assist the Ethiopian authorities in assessing the strength of the bidders and determining the type of operators that would be most suitable for the Ethiopian market.

Muriel Edjo