CAMTEL emerges as 4th mobile operator in CMR

The Cameroonian Government has authorized on Friday, Cameroon Telecommunications (CAMTEL, public company) to establish and operate electronic communications for 15 years with national coverage networks open to the public for the provision of fixed and mobile services.

With this licensing, Cameroon now has 4 mobile phone operators, the others being Orange, French, the South African Mobile Telecommunications Networks, MTN and the recent Vietnamese network, Nexttel.

These are to put an end to the endless process of privatization of the company reactivated by the Government in mid-November 2012 with the option of creating a public-private partnership aimed at supporting financially and technically the development of the company.

At the time, Government had started negotiations for the award of the 3rd mobile licence with an operator, which was to be presented in the form of a strategic partner operated by the Cameroon Mobile Telecommunications (CMT SA), subsidiary of the CAMTEL created in 2006 with a capital of 600 million CFA FRANCS.

Two attempts at privatization of CAMTEL, in 2002 and 2007, had been rendered unsuccessful by the Government.

Since November 2005, CAMTEL had liaised with a Chinese partner, a "fixed-mobile phone" still called CtPhone that allows it to control between 5 and 7% of market shares, far behind MTN and Orange.