Deals | São Tomé et Príncipe – IP/TMT

Gide Loyrette Nouel partner Rémy Fekete and his team advised the Government of the Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe and the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (AGER) on the opening up of the telecommunications sector to competition via the award of a second 2G/3G licence to a new operator, following an international tender procedure.

The second licence was officially awarded on 12 April 2013 to Unitel STP, a subsidiary of Unitel International Holdings BV, which already owns stakes in Portugal in the ISP and audiovisual content distribution company Zon Multimedia, as well as in the Cape Verde mobile telecommunications operator T+.

The tender procedure also aimed to transfer to the new operator the 25.5% stake held by the State in STP-Cabo, a specific company whose object is the operation of the Africa Coast to Europe submarine cable’s broadband capacity in São Tomé and Príncipe. In 2011, Rémy Fekete’s team had already assisted the authorities of São Tomé and Príncipe on their negotiations with the incumbent operator CST for the implementation of company STP-Cabo as a public-private partnership complying with the open access principle.