Mobilink’s parent company Orascom Telecom is awarded a Management
Contract in Lebanon

Karachi: January 15th, 2009 - Orascom Telecom Holding S.A.E. (“Orascom Telecom” or “OTH”), parent company of Mobilink, the country’s market leader in cellular communication with more than 30 million customers has been awarded the management contract of one of the two Lebanese mobile telecommunications operators, operating under the brand name Alfa, which is owned by the Republic of Lebanon. The management contract extends for one year and is renewable for another year. Under this contract, OTH is required to increase the number of subscribers of Alfa from around 600 thousand at the end of 2008 to around 1 million at the end of 2009. The management fee is paid by the Republic of Lebanon and will be defined based on the performance of the operator as measured by operating expenditure per active subscriber. The Republic of Lebanon is fully responsible for the Capex during the contract period.

The mobile network assets of Alfa were transferred to the Republic of Lebanon with effect on August 31, 2002 following the termination of the build, operate and transfer contract under which Alfa was constructed. After this date and until the date of entry into force of this management agreement to be concluded with OTH, Alfa was managed by FTML S.A.L.  under a network custody and operation contract and FALDETE S.A.L. under a management agreement.

“We have always been very interested in playing a role in the mobile communications market in Lebanon. Lebanon belongs to the profile of countries where OTH has extensive expertise in rolling out and developing successful businesses, and we believe that our entry to the Lebanese market through this management contract could pave the way for further investments in telecommunications by OTH in Lebanon at a later stage.” said Naguib Sawiris, Orascom Telecom Chairman and CEO.”