Mali to get third wireless operator

The Malian government is set to award a third mobile concession by the end of this year, according to Reuters citing state radio. ‘We want to maximise two things: the interests of the consumer, and secondly receipts for the public treasury,’ said Modibo Ibrahim Toure, minister of new technologies. The licence is likely to be priced in the region of USD90 million, and the winner will enter a market currently standing at 7.6 million subscribers. France Telecom-owned Orange claimed 65.7% of subscribers at the end of March 2011, with state-owned Malitel accounting for the remainder.