Three Firms Shortlisted for Armenian Mobile License

Three companies, Orange, Tele2 and Ireland based Blackrock Communications have been shortlisted for Armenia's 3rd mobile operator license. A statement from the Transportation and Communication Ministry said that although 17 companies applied for the tender documents, only six companies submitted a bid, Orange, CEO Blackrock Communications, V-Tel, Tele2, Auroratel and PJ Engineering.

The three companies now have forty days to submit their formal bids and the winners should be announced within a few weeks of the closing date.

Armenia currently has two mobile networks, Armentel (majority owned by Russia's VimpelCom) and VivaCell (majority owned by Russia's MTS). Russia's other main operator, Megafon had been regularly cited as the certain winner of the tender - so the shortlist has proven to be a surprise.

ArmeniaĆ's Public Services Regulatory Commission (PSRC) announced the tender last month and said that there will be a reserve price of US$16 million for the license and the winner will be required to invest a minimum of US$320 million in the network rollout.

The two incumbent operators have confirmed that they will launch 3G services shortly.

Figures from the Mobile World show that the country ended last year with a shade under 3 million subscribers - representing a population penetration level of 61%.

Posted to the site on 31st August 2008