The main shareholder, Millicom International Cellular S.A. (Millicom) is a B+ rated (S&P) global cellular telecom operator with 16 cellular operations and licenses in 15 emerging market countries (Africa, Asia and Latin America). As of March 2004, Millicom’s cellular subscriber base worldwide was 5.9 million. Millicom’s 2003 revenues totaled $641 million equivalent and EBITDA was $318.2 million equivalent. The company is listed on NASDAQ and on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange. Millicom has a total market capitalization of $1.6 billion.

The total project cost is expected to be $9 million. The proposed IFC investment is a $4 million A loan for IFC’s own account.

4.0 million (USD)

Product Line	IFC Investment (million USD)
Risk Management
Guarantee
Loan	4.0
Equity

* These investment figures are indicative

The company is headquartered in Vientiane, Lao PDR. Currently, the company has cellular sites in six provinces.

Laos is a frontier country. There are only 190,000 cellular lines for a population of 5.5 million, or penetration of 3.5%, which is low compared to other countries in the region with similar GDP per capita. By helping MLL (the only operator in Laos which is majority owned by the private sector) to increase its network coverage and capacity, the project will enable more consumers and businesses to have access to reliable and affordable telecommunication services and will increase competition. It will also be a demonstration to other private sector companies and the Government, as it will be one of the first term financings for a major infrastructure project in Laos, thereby promoting additional investment within the sector and other areas of the economy. Finally, it will help create jobs and support the growth of SME’s. IFC’s role in this project will be to provide term financing that is not currently available in the country, thereby supporting private development of infrastructure in Laos. The project will also support competition in the cellular market which will result in: - expanded access to cellular services in Laos’s underserved provinces; and - improved quality of service.

This is a category B project according to IFC''s environmental and social review procedure. Issues associated with this Project include: Millicom Laos environmental and social policies and procedures; environmental management and performance of existing network; site selection, land acquisition procedures and construction impacts of proposed expansion of network (towers, switching center and base stations); development of previously undisturbed land; impacts on environmentally or culturally sensitive areas (national parks, forests and other cultural heritage features); fuels/hazardous materials use; waste management; employee health and safety; training and emergency response.
Location of environmental documents in locally affected community
The Environmental Review Summary was already published in various newspapers in the Lao PDR.