Syria postpones mobile licence auction

The Syrian government has delayed next week’s planned auction of the country’s third mobile licence due to the ongoing political turmoil in the country.

Citing an unnamed person familiar with the matter, Zawya Dow Jones said that the delay comes after Syria’s president Bashar Assad dismissed his government and promised reforms to stem the tide of protest that is engulfing the country.

"The licence has been postponed because some elements on the supervisory committee were from the old government," the person told Zawya Dow Jones by telephone. "Some people are no longer on the committee."

No date has been set for the auction. Several bidders that had initially expressed an interest in bidding for the licence have dropped out, leaving only Qatar Telecom and Saudi Telecom in the bidding round before the process was postponed.

According to figures from the Mobile World, the country is estimated to have had just over 11 million mobile phone subscribers at the end of March 2011, which represents a population penetration level of 54 per cent.

The two incumbent operators will have to buy out their current BOT agreements and convert to a conventional licence agreement. The buyout price has been previously reported as being around US$500 million.