Bahrain’s third licence bid deadline extended to November 30

Following formal requests from the four registered bidders for Bahrain’s third mobile licence, the regulator has extended the deadline for submission of bids until 3pm on November 30, from the original deadline,of November 13.

Once the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) has received the applications, a revised timetable will be announced for the evaluation of bids, opening of qualified financial proposals and other related events.

Alan Horne, director general of the TRA had earlier said he expected the winning bidder to be an experienced international player capable of offering innovative and affordable mobile services, to strengthen competition in Bahrain, and deliver tangible socio-economic benefits.

The current mobile providers in the country are Batelco and Zain.

To be eligible to bid, interested parties were required to register and pay a non-refundable fee of BD2500 (US$6631) by October 13.