28th May 2019 07:36
LONDON (Alliance News) - Telecommunications firm Vodacom Group Ltd faces having some customers in the Democratic Republic of Congo disconnected amid a permit dispute with the government, Bloomberg reported on Monday.
Vodacom is 61% owned by FTSE 100-listed Vodafone Group PLC.
The business news wire explained it had seen a government order which threatens to disconnect some of Vodacom customers in the Congo using 2G data services.
This would impact any of Vodacom's 11.8 million customers in the country who have not yet switched to the faster 3G or 4G services or who live in rural areas not covered by these faster services.
The Congo government wants Vodacom - which owns a 53% stake in the biggest mobile operator in the country - to reapply for a 20 year 2G license originally granted in 1998.
This was after the Congo Telecommunications Minister Emery Okundji argued Vodacom had been granted an "irregular extension" to the license in 2015, Bloomberg reported. In the order dated April 29, Okundji gave Vodacom a month to renew the permit.
Bloomberg cited a Vodacom spokesman saying the Top 40-listed firm was engaging with the government "in an attempt to resolve this unfortunate situation".
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-27/vodacom-license-dispute-threatens-to-disconnect-congo-customers
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