Qatar Telecom, Saudi partner buy Pakistan telco
Wed Apr 25, 2007 7:13AM BST
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DUBAI, April 25 (Reuters) - Qatar Telecommunications Co. (QTEL.QA: Quote, Profile, Research) (Qtel) said it and a Saudi partner agreed to buy a majority stake in Pakistan wireless Internet broadband provider Burraq Telecom for $12.3 million.

The agreement with Saudi Arabia's A.A.Turki Corp. for Trading and Contracting (Atco) still needs regulatory approval, Qtel said in a statement on Wednesday. Qatar's Peninsula newspaper reported the agreement earlier today.

Qtel is seeking to expand outside Qatar as the Gulf Arab state prepares to sell a second mobile phone licence, ending Qtel's monopoly.

Qtel took control of Kuwait's National Mobile Telecommunications Co. (NMTC.KW: Quote, Profile, Research) (Wataniya) in March for $3.72 billion, the largest Gulf Arab telecom acquisition.

Burraq Telecom is a newly formed company which is setting up a long distance and international transmission network in Pakistan, according to the company's Web site. Qtel has operations in Oman, Indonesia and Singapore.

Qatar, home to 840,000 people and with a mobile penetration of more than 100 percent, invited expressions of interest in the country's second-mobile licence this week.

Facing rising competition at home, Gulf Arab telecom operators are hunting for foreign assets. Emirates Telecommunications Corp. (ETEL.AD: Quote, Profile, Research) (Etisalat) bought a 26 percent stake in Pakistan Telecommunication Co. Ltd. (PTCA.KA: Quote, Profile, Research) for $2.6 billion in 2005.

((Reporting by James Cordahi, editing by Daliah Merzaban; Gulf newsroom, +971 4 391 8301; dubai.newsroom@reuters.com)) Keywords: QTEL PAKISTAN/

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