Dubai, March 18 (pti): The consortium led by Reliance Telecom is among the seven firms to qualify for Saudi Arabia’s third mobile phone licence, while mtnl-Al Shoula is out of the fray. Kingdom Turkcell, mtc & Partners, Samawat-Bharti, Oger Telecom, Tawasul-Digicel, mtn Saudi Arabia and Abdullah Abdulaziz Al-Rajhi-Reliance have qualified to bid for the licence.

The communications and information technology commission (citc) will open the single-sealed financial proposal of each of the seven eligible applicants in Riyadh on March 24 in the presence of the companies’ representatives.

The board of directors of citc, chaired by Mohammed Jamil Mulla, minister of communications and information technology, selected the seven consortia from nine applicants.

“These financial proposals will be evaluated and the final results will be submitted to the board of directors and subsequently to the council of ministers to select the successful bidder,” citc spokesman Sultan Al-Malik said.

Kingdom Holding Company, owned by Prince Alwaleed BinTalal, is bidding for the prestigious licence with Turkish mobile operator Turkcell. Kuwait’s Mobile Telecom Co (mtc), Dubai-based Oger Telecom and South Africa’s mtn are the other major bidders. The citc did not give values for the bids for the third gsm licence but market analysts predicted that the government would receive nearly sr20 billion (local currency) from the licence sale.

Saudi Arabia’s mobile penetration rate is about 76 per cent and could rise to 95 per cent within two years, according to estimates. Saudi Arabia, considered the largest telecom market in West Asia, also plans to end the fixed line monopoly of Saudi Telecom Co this year.