The Syrian government has issued tenders for the country’s third mobile operator licence, Reuters has reported. Syria’s state telecoms company will hold a 20 per cent stake in the company that will be awarded the licence, the tender said. Gulf companies are interested in applying for the third licence, including Saudi Telecom and UAE’s Etisalat, industry sources said. The two current cellphone operators are South Arica’s MTN and Syriatel, which operate under 15-year build, operate and transfer contracts that expire in 2015.