Although the interim Egyptian government has pushed back the bidding on the country's fourth mobile license indefinitely, Telecom Egypt is positioning itself for a potential offer when the time comes. According to reports, the state-owned landline operator has said it will not seek further bank loans for the time being in order to prepare itself for the bidding. Earlier this year, the interim government announced that a fourth mobile license in Egypt would not be prudent at the current time due to the economic situation facing the country since 18 days of protests ousted the former government of Hosni Mubarak in February. Egypt's economy has been in doldrums since then, with the government accepting a number of loans from regional countries, including Saudi Arabia, in an effort to recover from the turmoil. Business newspaper al-Alam al-Youm reported that Telecom Egypt CEO Mohamed Abdulrahman said that the company would attempt to cover any drop in its returns by increasing operational revenues, “that is if revenues do not fall from the year before.” He added that the company's strong liquidity would be vital in securing the bid and that the company “will not seek any loans this year and next.” Telecom Egypt reported on Sunday that it had accrued nearly 86 million Egyptian pounds in losses through the first five months of 2011. BM
