CAIRO, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Egypt's three existing mobilephone operators have declined to buy its fourth-generationlicences, two Egyptian telecoms officials told Reuters onThursday.
The companies, Vodafone, Orange andEtisalat, did not respond to repeated requests forcomment. The Egyptian officials declined to be named as noofficial announcement had yet been made on the matter.
Telecom Egypt, the country's fixed-line monopoly, last monthacquired the 4G licence at a cost of 7.08 billion Egyptianpounds ($797 million). The move will allow it to enter themobile phone market directly for the first time.
Thursday was the deadline for the three existing mobilecompanies to respond to the government's offer to buy 4Glicences. (Writing by Lin Noueihed, editing by Ola Noureldin)