It has been a busy few weeks for Kuwait’s telecommunications sector, with the country’s existing mobile phone network operators announcing ambitious expansion plans overseas, while facing the prospect of a new rival in the domestic market. Kuwait’s mobile phone market is set for a major upheaval after the government announced on Dec. 17, 2006 that it would allow a third license to join Mobile Telecommunications Company (MTC) and the Wataniya Telecom Company. Decision comes from political pressure The decision by the Kuwaiti cabinet to back the proposal for a third operator came after considerable pressure from the opposition, which had long contended that the establishing of Wataniya in 1999 had not done enough to boost competition in the telecoms market. Under the cabinet’s proposal, 60% of shares in the new firm will be available to the public, 24% to state-owned authorities including a pension fund and an investment body and
