Irish entrepreneurs Mr Denis O'Brien and Mr Leslie Buckley are among nine bidders for two mobile licences in Lebanon.

The businessmen, who are best known for founding the Esat Group in the 1990s, will hear if their bid has been shortlisted for the next round of the contest within the next few days.

Successful bidders for the new licences will win contracts to manage Lebanon's two existing mobile phone networks, which will remain under state control.

Reports in the Lebanese media said yesterday that the government was considering the applications and was drawing up a final shortlist.

The two Irish entrepreneurs are believed to have submitted a bid in the name of Digicel, the mobile phone company that they have set up in the Caribbean.

Telecom sources in the Middle East told The Irish Times that Mr O'Brien and Mr Buckley may be lining up bids for similar licence competitions due to take place in Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Oman.

Mr O'Brien and Mr Buckley have been seeking new opportunities in the mobile sector for several months.

Last year the two men failed in a bid to win a mobile phone licence in Iraq.

Telecoms experts consider the Irish bid to be an outsider in the Lebanese contest, which has attracted bids from big firms such as Orange and Telenor.

Other firms that have submitted bids are: Detecon International, Egypt-based Orascom Telecom, Telecom Italia Mobile, Kuwait's Mobile Telecommunications Company, Hong-Kong mobile company Sunday Communications and US firm ATG.

Mr O'Brien could not be contacted yesterday and a spokesman for Digicel would not comment on the Lebanon bid.