Troubled telecommunications firm 9mobile may be forced to file bankruptcy, a report in Nigeria’s authoritative BusinessDAY said on Thursday morning.

Bharti Airtel had beaten other bidders for 9mobile only to develop cold feet after it got the nod of industry regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

“Analysts,” according to BusinessDAY, “say the recent development in the 9mobile bidding process where Bharti Airtel, one of the five listed potential investors has pulled out, may leave the telecommunications company with no other choice but to file for bankruptcy.” The paper noted that “Nigeria’s telecoms industry was taken by surprise after Airtel decided not to submit a final bid” for the troubled telco which rose from the ashes of the defunct Etisalat Nigeria following the pullout, last year, of the foreign owners.