The Syrian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology announced the granting of a license to operate the new mobile telecommunications network to the Kuwaiti “Zain” group, to enter the market as an alternative to the current operator, “MTN,” following a bidding amounting to $747 million.

According to the group’s statement, the license grants the franchise for a period of 25 years, and the ownership structure is divided into 75% to “Zain” and 25% to a Syrian government entity. It is scheduled to begin a six-month transitional phase to gradually transfer operational assets, with the Syrian Minister of Communications confirming the continuation of services without interruption for approximately 6.3 million subscribers, noting that the specifications presented focus on the quality of coverage and network speed in integration with the “Silk Link” infrastructure project.

For his part, the CEO of the group, Badr Nasser Al-Kharafi, met with Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa in Damascus, stressing Zain’s commitment to digital transformation and relying on local Syrian competencies to manage the company.