The Ministry of Telecommunications and Information Technology (MCIT) will allow the three mobile network operators (MNOs) and Telecom Egypt (TE) [ETEL.CA] to pay the 4G licence cost in instalments over four years rather than one bullet payment, according to a high-ranking source at one of the MNOs. The operators will also pay a fixed 6% of their annual revenues as government fees, noting that the current fee is not fixed and ranges between 5-6%. The source added that there are several other foreign operators, including China Telecom, which would be interested in acquiring the 4G licence in Egypt if one of the operators opted not to bid for it. Vodafone Egypt (VFE) and Orange Egypt would not be allowed to utilise their potential international gateway licences for two years until their commercial agreements with TE ends, according to an MCIT source. In related news, TE’s CEO, Tamer Gadallah stated that the company is currently in negotiations with several local banks over partial financing of the 4G licence cost, highlighting that the banks would fund the entire USD tranche of the licence cost, in addition to partially financing the EGP tranche. The balance would be paid from the company’s own cash balance. (Al Mal)   Telecom Egypt: EGP8.24 as of 22 June 2016, Rating: Buy, FV: EGP12.21 per share, MCap: USD1,584 million, ETEL EY / ETEL.CA