ATH/Interim govt sign an agreement

After years of public comments about opening up the telecommunitions market, common ground has been reached between the current telecommunications carriers and the interim government.

In the presence of World Bank mediators who flew into the country last week, and after hours of negotiations for four days at an undisclosed location in Nadi, Village News has today received confirmation that an agreement has been reached.

It has been confirmed that Amalgamated Telecom Holdings and interim government officials signed an agreement at 3:30 this morning, which means that the telecommunications sector is now open and new competitors can enter the market.

Our sources confirm that a positive agreement has been reached which will be beneficial to all the players and an official public statement is expected today.

Interim Attorney General, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, Interim Finance Minister, Mahendra Chaudhry, Interim Communications Minister Taito Waradi and ATH CEO Tomasi Vakatora, headed the talks which also included officials from FINTEL, Vodafone and Telecom Fiji Limited.

Meanwhile, cabinet will sit this morning and one of the major announcements expected today is the approval of new mobile phone operators to enter the market. Stay with us for developments.