Etisalat wants a piece of Omantel

This is from MEED.com

Etisalat seeks Omantel stake
TELECOM OMAN
12 Oct 2007 The UAE's Etisalat is considering making a bid for a stake in Omantel, after Muscat announced plans to sell shares in the company.

"We would like to see the detail of that auction," says Jamal al-Jarwan, chief executive of Etisalat International Investments. "It is something that we would like to find out more about."

Oman's government will sell part of its 70 per cent controlling stake in the company, which is the country's largest mobile phone operator and the monopoly fixed-line operator.

However, the government will need to provide more details about the sale if it is to attract bids and avoid some of the pitfalls of other phone privatisations in the region. Algeria and Iran, the other governments in the region that have announced plans to sell stakes in their state-run telecoms operators, have been criticised for allowing bureaucracy to delay the privatisations. "Very little information has been disclosed so far," says Al-Jarwan.

A ministerial committee led by the minister of national economy, Ahmed bin Abdulnabi Macki, is looking at what the government can do with its stake in Omantel. Up to 19 per cent of the company could be sold immediately.

Rumors are the Kuwait's MTC (AKA Zain) are the most likely takers.