KT to fight $386M countersuit over Rwandan 4G network

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(Source: Timon Schneider/Alamy Stock Photo)

KT Corp faces a $386 million counter-suit from the Rwandan government in their dispute over the end of its wholesale monopoly. The South Korea-headquartered operator said in a filing on Friday that the claim, equivalent to 2.6% of its equity, was calculated based on "unilateral assumptions" made by the Rwandan government.

The claim is based on allegations that the company breached its obligations under its agreement with the government, according to the filing. KT said it would vigorously dispute the calculation and defend its position during arbitration proceedings in the Permanent Court of Arbitration.

The conflict arose in 2023 with the Rwandan government's decision to introduce competitors to KT Rwanda Networks (KTRN). The two parties had established KTRN as a 4G wholesale operator in 2013, with KT owning 51% and the government 49%. The telco was granted exclusive nationwide rights to the 800MHz band.

But in October 2022, the government announced a new national broadband policy that terminated the exclusivity arrangement. The monopoly formally ended in July 2023. KT filed suit to enforce a put option price of around $152 million, arguing that the government had rewritten the terms of the 25-year concession midway through the investment period.

4G bottleneck

Rwanda's countersuit is on behalf of the Rwandan government, the Rwanda Development Board (RDB), the social security board and the country's sovereign wealth fund, AGDF Corporate, KT's filing said.

Whatever the lawfulness or fairness of the decision to abandon the single network (SWN), from a competition and practical point of view it's been a winner. The revised broadband policy scrapped the SWN, opened up fresh spectrum in the 700MHz, 900MHz, 1800MHz and 2100MHz bands, and allowed spectrum refarming.

According to a 2025 GSMA study, the change took Rwanda's 4G adoption rate from 2% to 30% in just two years. It said the SWN model, intended to improve accessibility, had in fact created a bottleneck. While KTRN had reached the target of 95% coverage by June 2017, adoption rates were far below the Sub-Saharan Africa average.

"Operators were restricted from deploying their own 4G or 5G networks, relying solely on KTRN’s wholesale services," GSMA said. "This lack of competition kept 4G prices high, limiting adoption and stifling the market for faster mobile internet."

Rwanda had 14.5 million mobile subs at June 30, equivalent to just over 100% of the population, with MTN Rwandacell and Rwanda Airtel holding 64% and 36% of the retail market, respectively.

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