LAHORE, Nov 6: A cellphone operator, Warid Telecom, has signed a loan agreement for $500 million to finance its nationwide EDGE--compliant mobile network expansion supplied by Ericsson in Pakistan, says a press release issued on Monday.

The announcement said it was the single largest EKN-backed loan facility in the Middle East and Asia region. The loan is structured as a buyer credit facility and arranged by ABN Amro Bank and Standard Chartered Bank as the joint lead arrangers.

The loan will be utilised by Warid for financing its GSM network equipment supplied by Ericsson in 2006 and 2007, which will facilitate Warid’s expansion plans towards enhancing its mobile network capacity as well as enabling it to accelerate its rollout into more cities in Pakistan.