ZTE to sell out of African cellco JV

ZTE has revealed plans to sell out of its controlling stake in its service provider joint venture in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo-Chine Telecom.

 

The Chinese telecom vendor said it will sell the 51% stake in the GSM operator to France Telecom's Orange in a transaction worth around $10 million.

 

Announcing the sale, ZTE CEO Shi Lirong said the move will help the company “focus on our core business and avoid competition with customers in certain markets.”

 

He said Congo-Chine Telecom is now the fourth largest mobile operator in a nation where mobile penetration is only at around 17%. The operator holds a national mobile license.

 

ZTE first entered the venture in 2000, forming a partnership with the nation's government to deploy a GSM 1800 network.

 

The sale comes as Vodafone's Vodacom moves to divest its controlling stake in its own mobile joint venture in the nation, Vodacom Congo. But the operator is facing two separate legal challenges to the planned transaction.