13 telecom operators from Europe and Middle East have until January 31 to place a bid for a 35 per cent stake in Tunisia’s state-owned company, Tunisie Telecom. <i>Reuters</i> reports that France’s Vivendi Universal, France Telecom, Spain’s Telefonic, Telecom Italia, Portugal Telecom a and Emirati operator Etisalat were among those to pre-qualify as potential bidders earlier this month. Tunisie Telecom, the country’s biggest revenue and profit earner, has about 4.2 million mobile and fixed-line customers in a country of 10 million and the company controls 72 per cent of the mobile market.
