The bid to land Syria’s third mobile licence has rapidly become a two-horse race between Qatar’s Qtel and Saudi-based STC, after three other qualified bidders pulled out in the last few days. France Telecom, the UAE’s Etisalat and Turkey’s Turkcell have all withdrawn, Syria’s telecoms ministry said in a statement on its website, reports Reuters. Syria said the trio were unhappy with some of the licence requirements, notably a 25 percent tax on revenue and a state monopoly over infrastructure for seven years. However, it is thought anti-government protests in the country aimed at toppling President Bashar al-Assad’s 11-year rule may have also put bidders off.

“Qtel confirms that it has submitted both the financial and technical bids for the third licence in Syria,” Qtel said in a statement, while STC also confirmed at the weekend it had submitted a rival offer. According to Wireless Intelligence data, the Syrian mobile market is currently a duopoly led by Syriatel, which had 6 million connections at the end of last year, followed by rival MTN on 4.9 million. However, total mobile penetration in the country is just 53 percent, making it an attractive prospect for a new market entrant.