February 3rd, 2008
As reported in Arabian Business, Orascom Telecom – the fourth-biggest Arab mobile phone operator by market value – announced that its subsidiary, CHEO Technology (in which the North Korean government also owns 25%), won the first mobile phone licence in North Korea. Orascom stated that it plans to invest $400 million on infrastructure and licence fees over the next three years, and said the licence duration was for 25 years, with an exclusivity period of four years. As the article notes:
“…We are continuing to head in the right strategic direction; our Greenfield licence in the DPRK (Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea) is in line with our strategy to penetrate countries with high population and low penetration”, the statement quoted OT Chairman and billionaire Naguib Sawiris as saying.
OT said it plans to cover the capital, Pyongyang, and other major cities during the first 12 months of operations. The group has operations in Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe….”
Focusing primarily on The New Seven Sisters - the largely state owned petroleum companies from the emerging world that have become key players in the oil & gas industry as identified by Carola Hoyos, Chief Energy Correspondent for The Financial Times - but spanning other nascent opportunities around the globe that may hold potential in the years ahead, Wildcats & Black Sheep is a place for the adventurous to contemplate & evaluate the emerging markets of tomorrow.