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Telkom backs out of Zambia

Lusaka/Johannesburg - India's Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd , Angola's Unitel and Libya's LAP Greencom have submitted bids to acquire Zamtel, Zambia's fixed-line telephone operator, a government official said on Wednesday.

Telkom decided not to bid after being shortlised in October as a suitor. India's MTNL and Russia's Altimo, a consortium of Egypt's Orascom Telecom and its subsidiary Telecel Globe also decided not to bid after being shortlisted.

The planned sale would make Zamtel the latest state owned fixed line operator being exited by African governments, as Nigeria's Nitel is in a process of being privatised. In April, Mali's government rejected a bid for state-owned Sotelma.

The submission of offers for Zamtel marks the start of the final process which has been criticised by opposition politicians, who say Zambians should hold a bigger stake in the company.

Zamtel's revenue for the year to end-December was $100m. It is Zambia's only licensed fixed-line provider of voice and data communications and has performed poorly despite its monopoly rights.

- Reuters

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