Mobilis to invest $2 bln to raise market share

Public mobile phone firm Mobilis will invest two billion dollars (DZD142 billion) over five years to modernize its equipment and bring its market shares to 45 percent, its CEO Saad Damma said Saturday. "We seek to get 45% of the market shares with this investment," to run until 2016, said Damma, appointed recently to the top job at Mobilis. The mobile phone firm’s goal in relation to market shares is achievable, especially if the regulatory authority intervenes, as it is done worldwide, to restore the market balance and prevent that one of the mobile phone firms outclasses its competitors, he said. The state-owned mobile firm currently holds 29 percent of the market shares, with about 11 million subscribers. The investment will mostly be carried out with the firm’s own funds, as Mobilis will provide 87 percent of the project’s financing (DZD142 billion), the rest will be funded through bank credits, Damma noted.