Six companies from home and abroad have shown their interest in becoming Macedonia's fourth mobile operator, news from Skopje reported on Friday.

Two Macedonian companies and four foreign ones -- from India, Russia, Switzerland and Germany -- have submitted a letter of interest, Macedonian Electronic Communications Agency said in a statement.

The agency published a notice about the project on April 3, with an application deadline on May 10, Macedonia's official news agency MIA reported. The Macedonian government decided to set up the fourth operator in order to increase competitiveness in the sector and to keep the price down.

Two mobile companies -- T-Mobile and Kosmofon -- are now operating in the Macedonian market, while the third one -- Austria 's Mobilkom -- will launch its services in Macedonia in the coming September.

Source: Xinhua