MTN says chief of Iranian associate to retire

21st February 2019

By: Reuters

  

Font size: - +

South African telecoms group MTN said the head of its Iranian associate MTN Irancell is to retire, to be replaced by an academic with expertise in the sector.

MTN said Alireza Ghalambor Dezfouli, who had headed MTN Irancell since its 2005 inception, had been integral in building Irancell into the country's largest data operator with more than 40-million customers.

He will be replaced by university professor Bijan Abbasi Arand.

Iran is one of MTN's largest markets, but its entry into the country has been marred by allegations it used bribes to win a 15 year operating licence, estimated to be worth more than $30-billion, in competition with Turkish rival Turkcell.

Abbasi's appointment comes a week after South Africa's former ambassador to Iran was arrested on charges he helped MTN acquire the licence in return for R1.4-million, which he used to purchase property.

MTN denies the allegations. It faces a $4.2-billion lawsuit brought by Turkcell in South Africa over the matter.

"MTN Group thanks Mr. Dezfouli for his years of service and congratulates Dr Abbasi on his new role," the company said in a statement.

Edited by Reuters

Comments

The functionality you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.

If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.

If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.

For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION