The European Commission is considering a proposal to phase out 1-euro cent and 2-euro cent coins, an EU document showed, in what would be a cost-saving move as the coins’ production and handling costs often exceed their face value.

The possible measure is included in the EU executive’s working programme for this year, released on Wednesday, and is scheduled for the October-December period after an evaluation of the use of the two smallest euro denominations.

Safaricom had last year talked of a joint bid in partnership with South Africa’s Vodacom, which owns a 35 percent stake in the firm. However, sources at the company said that more firms could be involved in the consortium angling for a market that has attracted the interest of global telecommunication firms, including Vodafone, which owns five percent of Safaricom.