The state telecom commission plans to call two tenders for issuing of permits for construction of digital television networks on national level and all interested entities should present their interest in the procedure by April 3, according to information on its website. The regulator envisages a two-stage procedure with simultaneous tenders for issuing one permit for two digital networks and one permit for construction of three networks. The first-stage winner should start providing digital TV services in seven settlements (including the five largest cities in the country) by December to include five other cities by June next year and to cover 95% of the population by June 2010. The requirements for the second-stage winner are the same in terms of coverage and the deadlines are set as follows: July 2011, January 2012 and June 2015 respectively. The local TV providers fear that the future owner of the networks may set up a monopoly.