Officials from Kuwait’s Zain are expected to discuss the terms of the 4G LTE license at a meeting today with CIT Minister Yasser Al Qady and acting head of the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA) Moustafa Abdel Wahed, according to Al Mal. No other details were provided on the agenda, but we can safely assume that high-level meeting coming on the back of Zain formally requesting to be allowed to bid for a 4G license indicates the prospect of foreign competition to the existing operators could be real. Local MNOs, who are reviewing the 4G license framework they received last Thursday, are not too happy with the move. Bringing in an international operator would be tough in a saturated market, an industry insider tells Al Mal. Meanwhile, the NTRA is studying a Telecom Egypt (TE) request to grant it enough time to build market share before allowing a fifth operator into the domestic market, sources tell Al Borsa.

TE mulls offering 4G services through TE Data: The fixed-line monopoly, which accepted the terms of the 4G framework and plans to make preparations for payment next week, is reportedly mulling over whether to provide 4G through its ISP arm, TE Data or through a new company, Al Borsa reports. Whichever way the company decides to go through, either TE Data or the new entity might be listed at some later stage, according to a government source. The source expects TE to spend EGP 10 bn in the first year alone to provide 4G services, the source adds.