Vodacom denies it seeks to acquire BeMOBILE

South African operator Vodacom has dismissed reports that it is involved in talks with beMOBILE over taking a stake in the company. The reports had suggested that Vodacom was planning to become a ‘technical partner’ in beMOBILE, and would inject money into the company which could enable beMOBILE to progress with its 3G roll-out plan. According to the report, a deal was expected to be announced within two months, reports TMT Finance. beMobile has been struggling to compete with Mascom(MTN) and Orange, which dominate the sector. beMOBILE is a subsidiary of state-owned incumbent Botswana Telecommunications Corporation (BTC), which is also scheduled to undergo privatization earlier comments, the Minister of Infrastructure, Nonofo Molefhi, said: “beMOBILE may look for a technical partner”, but had said he was informed that nothing has been concluded yet in that area. Molefhi said a beMOBILE privatization exercise would see government remaining with a 51 percent shareholding, with 5 percent going to Botswana Telecommunications Corporation employees and 44 percent reserved for Batswana in general.