Qatar received bids from seven of 12 qualified companies and groups for its second mobile phone licence, the telecom regulator said on Tuesday.

Bahrain Telecommunications Co (Batelco), AT&T, Vodafone and a group including Verizon Communications Inc were among those that bid, Qatar's Supreme Council of Information & Communication Technology said in a statement.

Emirates Telecommunications Corp (Etisalat) and Kuwait-based Zain (formerly MTC) said on Monday they had bid for the licence.

The regulator said in July it had short-listed 12 companies and consortia to bid for the licence to compete with monopoly provider Qatar Telecommunications Co (Qtel).

Meanwhile, Oman Telecommunications Co (Omantel) said it had pulled out of bidding for the licence.

'The company is unable to compete in the second phase for the second licence in mobile phone in Qatar,' state-owned Omantel said in a statement on the Oman bourse Web site.

Mohammad Ali al-Wohaibi, Omantel's chief executive officer, declined to Reuters on Tuesday to explain why.-Reuters