Yesterday, Tuesday, the Syrian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology announced the granting of a license to operate the new mobile telecommunications network in the country to the “Zain” Telecommunications Group, in a step that requires the entry of a new operator into the market to replace the current operator, “MTN.”
This decision came after a round of negotiations and bidding during which the group submitted an offer worth 747 million US dollars.
More than 6 million subscribers
According to the official statement issued by the Zain Group, the license grants the operational entity to be established the right to franchise for a period of 25 years (20 years plus a 5-year extension).
The operator’s ownership structure is distributed at 75% for the group, while a “Syrian government agency” retains the remaining 25%.
According to the time plan published in the Zain Group statement, this announcement will be followed by a transitional phase specified for six months, during which operational assets will be gradually transferred from the current operator, MTN, to the new management.
For his part, the Syrian Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Abdul Salam Heikal, during the announcement of the new operator, confirmed the continuation of services for current subscribers without interruption or impact on services.
According to the group’s statement, the number of subscribers is about 6.3 million.
Infrastructure projects
Heikal pointed out in his statement that the technical specifications and specifications presented focused on the quality of coverage, adding: “The specifications are high to reflect the quality of coverage and the network’s performance in terms of response speed.”
He conditioned the success of the new operator’s work on the extent of institutional coordination with infrastructure projects, indicating: “Zain cannot succeed in its mission without completing the Silk Link project, and we have begun to establish it through the basic network in Syria.”
Regarding the expected financial returns and their impact on the local structure, Khaled Al-Homsi, Director General of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, said that this investment will provide the national treasury with funds and create new job opportunities.
Employment policy
Regarding the employment policy of the new operator and the percentage of local workers, the group’s CEO, Badr Nasser Al-Kharafi, said that “the majority of the company will be Syrian talent,” adding that when additional expertise is needed, they will be brought to Syria for specific periods with the aim of transferring it to Syrian talent.
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Al-Kharafi met with Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa in Damascus. The company’s statement stated that Al-Kharafi assured President Al-Sharaa of the group’s commitment to building “a true partnership that supports digital transformation and building national capabilities.”
