Message Lun 4 Juil 2011 19:20

Competion commission okays CEC, Liquid Telecom joint venture

By Gift Chanda
Mon 04 July 2011, 19:10 CAT

THE Competition and Consumer Protection Commission has approved the proposed creation of a joint venture between Copperbelt Energy Corporation and Liquid Telecommunications Holdings Limited of Mauritius for the establishment of CEC Liquid Telecommunications Limited.

CCPC spokesperson Brian Lingela said the commission granted final unconditional authorisation of the deal as it did not raise any competition concerns.

Under the proposed joint venture, CEC and Liquid Telecom will each have 50 per cent equity capital in the new company, CEC Liquid Telecommunications Limited, which will be incorporated in Zambia.

The two companies are expected to invest approximately US$30 million into the establishment of the new company.

“The transaction did not raise competition concerns in the fibre optic market,” Lingela said.

“Investigations by the commission found that the proposed joint venture would not raise competition concerns in terms of increasing barriers to entry in the market.”

Lingela said the commission also believed that it was unlikely that CEC, which commands a 40 per cent market share in the fibre optic, would abuse its dominance and engage in any anti-competitive conduct.

“In their deliberations, the board expressed hope that the transaction would result into some efficiencies particularly because Liquid Telecom has a regional reputation in the provision of fibre optic network from which CEC would benefit,” said Lingela.

Liquid Telecom is a Mauritian carrier to carrier company with presence in Botswana, Kenya, Lesotho, South Africa, United Kingdom and Zimbabwe and owns and operates one of the largest fiber optic networks in Southern Africa which is estimated to exceed 8,500 kilometres by the end of 2011.