RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) – A consortium led by Kuwait’s Mobile Telecommunications Co (MTC) on Saturday made the largest bid of 6.1 billion dollars for Saudi Arabia’s third mobile phone licence, Saudi Arabia’s telecoms watchdog said.
MTC made the highest bid out of six other candidates selected to compete for the lucrative contract, Saudi Arabia’s Communication and Information Technology Commission (CITC) said in statement seen by AFP.
The Saudi cabinet would make the final decision as to who will be awarded the licence, the CITC said, without giving further details.
Established in 1983, MTC currently operates in 20 Middle Eastern and African countries. It serves 27 million subscribers and has a capitalisation of 17 billion dollars.
Less than two years ago, the Saudi government broke the monopoly on the mobile sector by awarding a second licence to a consortium led by the Emirati company Etihad Etisalat which now has six million subscribers.
State-owned Saudi Telecom, which still controls the land lines sector, has about eight million customers.
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