National and international firms line up to become African country's third mobile licensee; penetration estimated at 23%. Mozambique's telecoms regulator open up bids for the country's third mobile licence, and with 22 applications to consider the contest looks set to be fierce. Americo Muchanga, director general of regulatory body the Instituto Nacional das Comunicações de Moçambique (INCM), informed  that the 22 companies that have submitted entries include both national and international players.

Muchanga said the names of the interested parties will be revealed when the bids are opened.

Companies must be registered in Mozambique to be eligible to win the licence, but foreign players can partner with local companies in order to comply, Muchanga said. He also noted that local companies might need foreign partners in order to ensure their own eligibility; the winning bidder must have operating experience in the telecoms sector.

Existing mobile operators Vodacom and mcel are not permitted to bid for the licence, and neither is fixed-line player TDM.

The Mozambican government authorised the entry of a third player into the market "to meet customer demand", the paper reported. The government claimed that the right market conditions exist in the country to warrant the sale of a new licence.

Indeed, Vodacom estimated mobile market penetration at 23% at the end of March 2010, at which date it reported 1.99 million connections on its network. mcel says it has more than 3 million customers.