Cambodia's MobiTel to buy telecommunication materials from Singapore

MobiTel, Cambodia's largest mobile phone service provider, signed an agreement to purchase 150 million U.S. dollars worth of telecommunication materials from the Singapore-based Alcaltel-Lucent Company, officials said on Wednesday.

"Today we signed the purchase agreement of telecommunication materials from Alcatel-Lucent Company to further advance the availability of world-class cellular phone services in Cambodia," said Kith Meng, chairman of MobiTel.

The agreement will allow a major expansion of MobiTel's rural network, increasing the access to modern communication for many more people throughout Cambodia, he said.

Pierre-Alain Cadillon, vice president and head of the South Asia regional unit of Alcatel-Lucent, said that the expansion over the next four years will bring a new range of mobile communication services, ranging from voice mail, video transmission, mobile TV to internet access, to more three million subscribers in Cambodia.

Kith Meng said that MobiTel borrowed money from banks of the United States and Australia to finish the purchase, and the Cambodian government also provided support.

Kith Meng and Pierre-Alain Cadillon signed the agreement here Wednesday in the presence of Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sok An.

Cambodia opened the mobile telecommunication sector to private capital in 1992. Currently, around 21 percent of the kingdom's 14 million population adopt mobile phone as their major communication solution.

Source: Xinhua