Saudi GSM licence attracts many bids

Saudi GSM licence attracts many bids

"The highest bidder would enter a lucrative market, which has more than eight million mobile users and a growth rate of about 30%, although it has to meet a number of financial requirements and be approved by the Saudi cabinet. "

"An Arab industry report has predicted that revenues in Saudi Arabia's GSM market will soar to $7.9bn by 2007 on the back of the partial privatisation of state-owned giant Saudi Telecom and of increased competition. "

Riyadh öppnar upp mobiltelefoni, men behåller monopolet på fast telefoni och Internet till 2008.

Ett konsortium ledd av  United Arab Emirates' Etisalat´, ett konsortium ledd av South Africa's MTN och Egypt's Orascom är tre som lämnat bud. Vilka som ingår i konsortierna framgår inte av artikeln.