Reuters reports today that Kuwaiti-based mobile giant Zain is on track to land Iran’s third mobile license following reports that the earlier winner of the license – a consortium comprising Etisalat and local operator Taameen Telecom – has been stripped of the license. Etisalat/Taameen won the license in January but comments from Iran’s Communications Regulatory Authority today suggest that its winning bid has been scrapped because the consortium has 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 Iran’s Telecommunications Minister Mohammad Soleymani, reports AFP. His comments contradict claims by Etisalat – a 49 percent stakeholder in the consortium – that it has already paid its proportionate share of the EUR300 million license fee. The operator had earlier said that it expected to launch its first services in the third-quarter of the year and planned to invest a reported US$1 billion in building-out the new network.

According to the Reuters report, which cites Iran’s official IRNA news agency, the license will now pass to Zain, the runner-up in the original license auction. Iran is seen as a high-growth opportunity for international mobile operators. According to Wireless Intelligence data, Iran was the second-fastest growing market in the Middle Eastern region (after Afghanistan) by the end of 2008, and is already the second-largest market in the region (after Turkey) in terms of mobile connections. However, mobile penetration is currently at just over 65 percent, while the country has a total population of some 73 million, including a sizable youth population. 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). Click here for Wireless Intelligence’s recent ‘Snapshot’ analysis on the third Iranian license.