Libyan Rebels Launch Mobile Network

According to the UK's Daily Telegraph, rebels in Eastern Libya have set up their own independent mobile phone network, less than a month after they were cut off from the country's centralised infrastructure, which required all calls to be routed through the international gateway in Tripoli. 

The new network, called 'Free Libyana', is the brainchild of UAE-based telecoms executive Ousama Abushagur, a Libyan national who was raised in Alabama. He admitted that the the move was necessitated after humanitarian convoys that he had organised suffered logistical problems because the Gaddafi government was broadcasting jamming signals to cripple the satellite telephones used by the rebels.

Free Libyana was supplied with the necessary telecoms equipment by UAE telecoms giant Etisalat, which stepped in when Chinese telecoms manufacturer Huawei rejected Abushagur's approach; an unnamed Libyan businessman based in the UAE bankrolled the project.

 The network was rolled out by a team of international telecoms engineers – three Libyans and four Westerners – who flew to Egypt before crossing the border into Libya and commencing work in the rebel-held capital Benghazi. 

The rebels were reportedly aided by Benghazi-based employees of Libyana, the country's largest mobile phone operator by subscribers. According to Abushagur the new network launched on 2 April, and currently has 750,000 active SIM cards in operation. Although the network is widely available in the east of the country, international calling is limited to selected senior rebel figures.

Libya to List State Cellcos By April 2011

According to Reuters Africa, state-owned Libyan mobile phone operators Al Madar Telecomm and Libyana will definitely be floated on the North African country's stock exchange by the end of April 2011.

Gamal Al-Lamushe, the chairman of Libya's privatisation and investment board, told the news agency: 'We are working on it with Al Madar and Libyana. Probably about 2% to 5% - that is the maximum that will be floated'.
In October, chairman of the Bourse, Suleiman Shehoumi indicated that the two companies would each list 30% stakes on the local stock exchange in early 2011, but Al-Lamushe has contradicted Shehoumi's assessment, stating: 'I don't think that much will be floated. The capacity of the Libyan stock market is very limited. It will not be a good idea to float such a big amount of capital'.
 
Shehoumi said that the two cellcos would be among as many as 20 local firms expected to list themselves on the exchange in 2011. The move suggests further progress in the gradual opening up of Libya’s economy; long-standing international trade sanctions were lifted by the US in 2004, after Libya publicly turned its back on weapons of mass destruction.
 
Reports concerning the privatisation of Libya's telecoms sector have circulated regularly since 2007, adding an element of doubt to predictions that the flotation will go ahead as planned in 2011.

Libya Plans to Privatise Mobile Firms

The government of Libya is reportedly planning to sell stakes in two mobile operators, Libyana and Al Madar, according to Bloomberg. Under the first phase of the sale plan, an initial 5% stake in the two wholly state-owned companies will be divested for a total of USD400 million, with the government planning to the offer further stakes of up to 40%.

Beltone Securities International, a subsidiary of Egyptian investment bank Beltone Financial, is said to be advising on the sale.

Libyana and Al Madar are the country’s only wireless operators and are both wholly state-owned via the Libya Post and Telecommunications Information Technology (LPTIC). Libyana, which launched in September 2004, had an estimated subscriber base of 6.55 million at 31 December 2009, while sole rival Al Madar, which started operations in November 1996, had 1.4 million cellular users at the same date.