Emirates Telecommunications Corp (Etisalat) said on Tuesday that it won Iran's third mobile license as part of a consortium with Iran's Taameen Telecom, which is owned by Iranian Social Security Organization.

Etisalat, which has a 49 percent stake in the consortium, said its team beat operators including Zain, Omantel, Telekom Malaysia and Bharti Airtel to win the license.

Jamal al-Jarwan, chief executive of Etisalat International Investments, said the consortium's operations would begin in nine months, adding that the group would invest at least $1 billion into building infrastructure in Iran.

He said the firm hopes to get at least one million subscribers in the first year of operations considering the potential of the Iranian cell phone market.

According to the company, Etisalat has currently more than 74 million subscribers in 17 countries across Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

Iran currently has two mobile operators, the state-owned Telecommunications Company of Iran, which has some 28 million customers, and MTN Iran Cell, a subsidiary of South Africa's MTN. Iran Cell has 14.1 million subscribers.

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