Third cellco expected next year

Kuwait is expected to get its third mobile operator in 2008. A report from AFP suggests that a government-backed committee is hoping to find a core investor to take a 26% stake in the entity, with an auction to be held by October. 50% of the firm’s shares will be sold via an initial public offering, with the remaining 24% held by state institutions. The Kuwaiti mobile market is currently home to two players: MTC, which had almost 1.5 million subscribers at the end of March, and Wataniya, which claimed just over a million customers at the same date.