The saga over the award of Iran’s third mobile license appeared to take another twist this week with news that the government may begin a new tender process, reports Cellular News. Kuwaiti-based Zain – the runner-up in the original auction – was thought to have secured the license after the original winning bidder, Etisalat, was stripped of the license in May. However, Iranian newspaper Poul quoted Iranian Telecoms Minister Mohammad Soleymani this week as saying that another tender would be held. Despite earlier reports that Zain had won the license the company has never made an official announcement. “It’s an interesting opportunity and something we will evaluate but we will evaluate it in the context of the changes as the bids were submitted well over a year ago, and the world has changed,” Ibrahim Adel, a spokesman for Zain, told the Financial Times at the time.

A consortium comprising Etisalat and local operator Taameen Telecom initially won the license in January but according to Iran’s Communications Regulatory Authority the winning bid was scrapped because the consortium failed to meet its obligations. “The Taameen Etisalat consortium has gone out of the tendering process because it has neither given the necessary guarantees nor paid the license fee in time,” said Soleymani at the time. The market is currently dominated by the state-controlled Telecommunication Company of Iran (TCI), parent company of Mobile Communications Company of Iran (MCCI), which commands a 63 percent share of the country’s mobile market. TCI’s only current nationwide competitor is MTN Irancell, a joint venture between South Africa’s MTN (49 percent) and the Iran Electronic Development Company (IEDC). The much sought after third license covers GSM services, and includes a two-year monopoly on 3G services.