NAIROBI, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Ethiopia plans to award two
telcoms licences to multinational mobile companies by April
2020, breaking the state monopoly by April, the new
communications regulator said on Tuesday, an apparent delay in
the timeline officials had previously set.
Balcha Reba, director general of the Ethiopian
Communications Authority, gave the date at a press conference.
In June, Reuters reported that Ethiopia would issue the licences
by the end of the year, quoting Ethiopian officials and telcoms
executives with direct knowledge of the process.
The issuing of licences will end a state monopoly and open
up one of the world's last major closed telecoms markets in the
country of around 100 million.
(Reporting by Kumera Gemechu
Additional reporting by Giulia Paravicini
Writing by Maggie Fick; editing by David Evans)