Local telecom operator officially applies for 4G licence — Sleit

AMMAN — One of the country’s three telecom operators has submitted an official request to acquire frequencies to introduce fourth generation (4G) services in the Kingdom, a government official said on Tuesday.

ICT Minister Azzam Sleit, who did not wish to name the company, said the door remains open for other operators to acquire such frequencies to introduce 4G services, which enable data transfer rates of up to 150 megabits per second.

Although only one of the operators officially applied to introduce 4G services, the other two showed interest, Sleit told The Jordan Times, adding that they can apply at any time to obtain the necessary frequencies.

There are three telecom operators in Jordan: Orange Jordan, Zain Jordan and Umniah.

The minister said the government resorted to directly talking with the existing operators and urged them to apply for 4G licences after it turned down bids from two other companies.

In February, the government said it received two bids from KULACOM Jordan and a US-based company called “Ameriphone” to acquire licences to provide 4G services in the country. But the government rejected the bids as KULACOM was incapable of providing a financial guarantee, which is against the tender’s conditions, while the US-based company provided a financial guarantee from a foreign bank instead of a bank in Jordan. 

Ameriphone also provided an old certificate of registration that dated back to 2009, which is also a violation of the conditions.