The state telecoms commission may call tenders for selling two cell-phone licences valid for 10 years each, according to a statement of commission chief Veselin Bozhkov for Dnevnik Daily . The two licences will have national coverage under the GSM standards in the 1,800MHz range, 2x10MHz and 2x15MHz spectre. The bidding thresholds are expected at BGN 38mn (EUR 19.4mn) and BGN 57mn respectively. The telecoms regulator comments that the remaining resources in the 1,800MHz range will be used for expansion of the acting wireless operators. As recalled, the telecoms commission called a closed-bid auction for the country’s fourth cell-phone licence under the GSM standards in the 1,800MHz range in June but none of the candidates reached the final stage and the tender was suspended. The starting bidding price for the licence was set at BGN 38mn and was considered too high in view of the market saturation. The three cell-phone operators raised the country’s penetration rate in terms of active SIM cards to 133.8% of the population as of end-June and any new market entrant will face significant challenges to attract a sufficient customer base. The low-case investment scenario for setting-up a new operator is seen at BGN 100mn.