Authorities to renew Orange’s 2G licence for 5 years

AMMAN — The Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) on Wednesday said it approved a request by Orange Jordan to renew its second generation (2G) licence for five years in return for JD52.1 million, a decision the company said it was “forced to accept”.

The TRC noted that the door remains open for Orange Jordan to submit a request to renew its 2G licence for an additional 10 years for a fee that can be decided at a later stage.

The TRC had originally set a JD156 million fee to renew Orange Jordan’s 2G licence for 15 years, which the operator described as “unreasonably high”.

“The TRC’s decision is meant to preserve the interests of all involved parties while taking into account the real value of the 2G frequencies,” the commission said in a statement sent to The Jordan Times on Wednesday.

Orange Jordan, 51 per cent of which is owned by France Telecom, said it still strongly rejects the “unfair valuation of the licence and was forced to make this huge compromise in order to avoid the threat of service restriction or cancellation and the radical consequences it would have had on its customers, employees, the Jordanian ICT industry and the Kingdom as a whole”.

“The company, supported by many of its stakeholders, will continue to utilise all available legal channels in order to open the eyes of authorities on the risks of imposing increased financial burdens on the sector,” Orange Jordan said in a statement e-mailed to The Jordan Times.

Having secured the renewal of its spectrum licence, Orange Jordan said it will maintain its commitment to investing in its network, utilising all available technological innovations to enhance the coverage and speed of its data services. 

In its statement, the company did not mention whether it will proceed with lawsuits recently filed against the government.

Earlier this week, the operator said it will resort to international arbitration in the US if no deal is reached soon with the government to set a “reasonable” price for the 2G licence renewal.

Orange Jordan has also filed lawsuits against the TRC at the Higher Court of Justice and the Amman Court of First Instance.

The TRC and the ICT Ministry maintain that the pricing is fair and based on detailed scientific studies.