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Jordan's telecoms authority renews Orange Mobile's licence [IntelliNews - Weekly Reports](IntelliNews - Weekly Reports Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) The Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) decided to renew Orange Mobile's 2G licence for five years in return for JOD 52.1mn (USD 74mn), TRC said in a statement. The mobile market in Jordan boasts three operators - Orange Mobile, which is 51%-owned by France Telecom, Umniah and Kuwait's Zain. The TRC also said that Orange can submit a request to renew its 2G licence for an additional 10 years for a fee that can be decided at a later stage. The TRC had initially set a JOD 156mn fee to renew Orange 2G licence for 15 years. But Orange claimed the fee was very high. Earlier this week, Orange threatened to resort to international arbitration in the USA if no deal is reached with the government to set a "reasonable" price for the 2G licence renewal. The telecom sector contributes 14% to Jordan's GDP and employs more than 60,000 persons, according to official estimates. Jordan had 10.314mn mobile phone users at end-2013, translating into a 156% penetration rate, according to TRC. Fixed-line telephone users reached 379,911, translating into a 5.5% penetration rate. Internet penetration reached 73% at end-2013 with 5.32mn users. Internet subscriptions stood at 1.5mn or a 21% penetration rate. The majority, or 1.173mn Internet subscribers, were mobile broadband subscribers. The Jordanian government hiked as of July 2013 the special tax imposed on mobile phones, including smartphones, to 16% from the previous 8%. The tax increase aims to boost budget proceeds. The taxes on mobile phone subscriptions, both prepaid and post-paid, were also raised from 12% to 24%. (c) 2014 Emerging Markets Direct Media Holdings LLC Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info). |