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Technology Stocks : Vodafone-Airtouch (NYSE: VOD) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: David Wiggins who wrote (858)	3/4/1998 11:12:00 AM
From: Roy F	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 3175

AirTouch Venture Wins Cellular License in Egypt March 4, 1998 10:42 AM SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 4, 1998--AirTouch Communications ATI today announced that its consortium has been named the winner of a nationwide cellular license in Egypt. This license will expand AirTouch's reach into the Middle East for the first time. AirTouch holds a 30 percent share in the venture. The consortium, known as Misrfone (meaning Egypt phone), expects to launch service using GSM digital technology nine months after signing the license. Misrfone bid a total of $516 million for the license; AirTouch's share is about $155 million. "We believe there's strong growth potential in Egypt," said Arun Sarin, president and chief operating officer of AirTouch Communications. "With only about 90,000 cellular subscribers out of a population of 62 million, and roughly 1.7 million people waiting to sign up for landline service, there is obviously pent-up demand for telecommunications. We're pleased to add Egypt to our excellent portfolio of European and Asian cellular properties." Egypt currently has one cellular operator, with a penetration rate of less than one percent. Only about seven percent of the population has landline service. Vodafone, the U.K.-based cellular operator, also holds a 30 percent interest in Misrfone. Other partners include Alkan, an Egyptian manufacturing and distribution company; EFG-Hermes, an Egyptian investment bank; Banque du Caire, one of Egypt's largest banks; Compagnie Generale des Eaux, a French water and telecommunications company, and Mobile Systems International, a U.K. consultant to the wireless industry. AirTouch Communications is a global wireless communications company, with interests in cellular, paging, and personal communications services in the United States, Belgium, Brazil, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Poland, Portugal, Romania, South Korea, Spain, and Sweden, as well as an interest in the Globalstar satellite system. The company, based in San Francisco, serves nearly 11 million proportionate customers worldwide.