Unitel to pay USD7.5m for STP telecoms licence

Unitel International Holding, backed by Isabel dos Santos, is to pay USD7.5 million for Sao Tome and Principe’s second fixed and mobile licence, Macauhub cites a report by pan-African news agency Panapress as saying. Unitel emerged as the only applicant to have met the technical and financial requirements of the licence tender, which was launched by local regulator Autoridade Geral de Regulacao (AGER) in November last year. According to the report, Unitel’s technical proposal includes the establishment of a subsidiary known as Unitel STP to provide telecoms services across the archipelago. The awarding of a second concession, which also includes capacity on the Africa Coast to Europe (ACE) fibre-optic cable system, will bring an end to the monopoly held by national PTO Companhia Santomense de Telecomunicacoes (CST), a subsidiary of Portugal Telecom.