Samoa's seventy percent share in the publicly owned telecommunication service SamoaTel, has been sold to an American Samoa based company Blue Sky for eleven million US dollars.
The winning bid was announced after an auction held in front of an audience including the Prime Minister, Tuila'epa Sa'ilele Malielegaoi and several cabinet ministers, along with SamoaTel officials and members of the business community.
The announcement comes after months of speculation on who will be taking over the state owned telecommucations company.
A government statement says the next steps to finalise the sale, include formal approval by the office of the Regulator and registration of the foreign investment, as well as payment of the bid within three weeks.
