Omantel proceeds to second round of Iran’s licensing process

Omantel is through to the second round of bidding for Iran’s third mobile licence, the company said in a statement today.

Omantel is believed to be competing with firms from the Middle East, India and Russia for Iran’s third mobile licence

The Omani telco is bidding for the concession as part of a consortium of local and international partners for the licence which includes access to 3G spectrum.

Dubai-based Millennium Finance Corporation, which is advising Iran on the process, said the tender would not close before the end of the year and that Malaysia’s TM International was also in the running. Qtel, Zain, India’s Reliance Communications and Russia’s VimpelCom and MegaFon have all been linked with the auction.

Iran’s third mobile licence will give the winning bidder access to 3G spectrum for an exclusive period ahead of incumbents state-backed Telecommunications Company of Iran (TCI) and MTN Irancell, which is 49 per cent owned by Africa’s largest operator, MTN.

Mobile penetration in Iran stands at around 50 per cent, with TCI serving 24.6 million subscribers and MTN Irancell having been able to garner 11.5 million customers to end-June, having launched commercially late in 2006.