Vodafone to pay $2.1bn for Qatar licence

Vodafone and its local partner will pay Riyal7.72bn ($2.1bn) for Qatar’s second mobile licence, authorities revealed on Tuesday.

A Vodafone led consortium was awarded the second mobile telecoms licence in Qatar in December, beating rival bids from Verizon and Etisalat.

Regulator ictQatar also revealed the shareholding structure of Vodafone’s local consortium, which will see the Vodafone/Qatar Foundation Consortium holding 45 per cent and governmental and Qatari institutional shareholders take 15 per cent.

The company will have to release a 40 per cent stake to public shareholders through an IPO, which will be held on or before November 30.

It is expected that the Vodafone will launch services in the first quarter of 2009, catering to one of the richest nations on earth.