Maputo, Mozambique, 5 Oct – Twenty six consulting companies have applied to draw up the tender document for the public tender to introduce a third mobile telecommunications operator in Mozambique, to be launched by September 2010.

Speaking to Portuguese news agency Lusa, the director general of the Mozambican National Communications Institute (INCM), Américo Muchanga said that the proposals being assessed by the Mozambican government included those from foreign companies but he declined to name them.

In July, the Mozambican authorities approved a resolution that authorised the entry of a third mobile phone operator to be chosen via an international public tender.

Muchanga gave the months of “June and September” of next years as the likely dates for the launch of the public tender for the new mobile phone company.

“We project that all the work (drawing up the tender document and launch of the public tender) will take place over the next year,” he said.

Two mobile telecommunications companies currently operate in Mozambique: MCel, which is state-owned and has over three million customers, and South Africa’s Vodacom. (macauhub)