MTNL loses out in Saudi fixed-line licence race

DUBAI: MTNL has lost the bid for Saudi Arabia's fixed line licence, which has been awarded to consortia led by Bahrain Telecom Co, Hong Kong's PCCW and America's Verizon Communications.

Ten consortia led by leading international companies including Verizon Communications and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd. and China Telecom were competing for the Kingdom's second land phone licence.

The Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) has approved the applications of the three consortia.

"Once they receive final approval from the Cabinet, there will be four companies to operate the Kingdom's fixed-line network," Abdul Rahman Al-Fehaid, CITC's deputy governor said on Saturday.

The entry of the three companies ends the fixed-line monopoly of state controlled Saudi Telecom Company.

Saudi Arabia is the largest telecom market in the Gulf and is also considered as a very lucrative market as its tele-density is very low.

Analysts peg the value of the Saudi licence at about $4 billion.

MTNL, which had recently lost the bid for Kenyan's second national licence, also offers services in Nepal and Mauritius.

Last month, a consortium led by Kuwait's Mobile Telecommunications Co had bagged Saudi Arabia's third mobile license with a $6.1-billion bid, beating Indian telcos such as Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communications.