Six companies express interest in third Bahrain mobile licence

Six companies have expressed interest in competing to become Bahrain's third mobile network operator, according to the Bahrain Telecommunitcations Regulatory Authority (TRA).

The responses from the six groups, which were not disclosed, covered points of interest relating to the award process of the license, such as spectrum band issues, infrastructure sharing, national roaming, exclusivity periods and the preferred license award mechanism.

The TRA will now use the responses to develop the criteria and tender process for bidding for the licence. The TRA welcomed the input, and pointed out that there could be more interest companies that would be able submit bids later in the process.

Alan Horne, General Director of the TRA said: "Looking at the responses received we are greatly encouraged by the level of international interest that has been shown in the Bahraini telecommunications market. The responses are from a mixture of companies interested in investing in the future of Bahrain including both local companies with international partners, and international companies new to the telecoms sector of Bahrain.

"The number of responses received does not necessarily reflect the full amount of interest in the third mobile license in Bahrain, as some companies may prefer to submit their bids without expressing any interest at this time," he added.