Safaricom Plc’s chances of winning one of two Ethiopia telecommunications operating licences got a boost after it emerged as one of only two bidders to participate in the auction that closed on Monday.

The Ethiopian Communications Authority (ECA) announced that it received bids from a consortium comprising the Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed firm and MTN International Mauritius, a subsidiary of South Africa's MTN Group.

Nine other firms that had expressed interest in the auction dropped out at the last stage, with reports indicating that they were spooked by alleged lack of transparency in the process and requirements that winners build their own network infrastructure such as towers.

They also felt that they were not ready to pay the amounts expected by the Ethiopian government, which expects to raise billions of dollars from the sale of the licences in what officials have described as “the deal of the century.”

The firms that dropped out of the race are Etisalat, Axian, Orange, Saudi Telecom Company, Telkom SA, Liquid Telecom, Snail Mobile, Kandu Global Communications and Electromecha International Projects.

ECA said the winners will be selected after technical and financial evaluation is completed.