Etisalat Bids for Libya License as Part of Expansion

Emirates Telecommunications Corp. has offered 1 billion Libyan dinars ($825 million) for the right to operate Libya’s third mobile-telephone license as the United Arab Emirates’ biggest phone company seeks to expand outside its home market, a company official said.

The provider of mobile, fixed-line and Internet services aims to invest in Asia, the Middle East, and Africa where “the penetration rate is below 50 percent on average,” Jamal Al Jarwan, chief executive officer for Etisalat’s international investments, said in an interview today. The company hopes to hear whether the Libyan government will accept the bid before the end of the year, he said.

Middle Eastern telephone-service providers are expanding in Africa and Asia to seek clients in emerging markets with young and growing populations. Those countries often have penetration rates, or numbers of people owning and using mobile phones, lower than in more developed European or Persian Gulf markets.