Yesterday morning, Minister of Information and Communication Technologies Mongi Marzouk rejected Tunisiana's bid to acquire the 3rd 3G and landline license.

The announcement was made during a public session over the financial offer. Tunisiana offered to purchase the landline license for 36 million dinars and the 3G license for 125 million dinars.

The Ministry of Information and Communication Technologies has not disclosed the minimum bid by Tunisiana that it would accept. "Once we grant the licenses, we will officially announce the minimum amount that we are willing to accept in order to guarantee that no operator offers us the absolute minimum," declared Marzouk on air to Express Fm Radio.

It is important to note that Orange Tunisia paid 275 million dinars in June 2009 for a similar package with the option of an exclusive 3G license for one year while Tunisia's most longstanding phone company, Tunisie Telecom, acquired the 3G license on September 21, 2010, for 116 million dinars.

On March 26, the technical terms for network and service quality, proposed by Tunisiana, were accepted by the Ministry. According to Marzouk, the private telecommunications company has also presented an appropriate plan to develop the landline network and 3G coverage in the whole country, especially in the interior regions.

In an official response to the rejection, Director-General of Tunisiana Kenneth Campbell said that his company will carefully adjust their offer and renew it in the coming days. The next time will be the final opportunity for Tunisiana to present its financial terms.