NETONE said Tuesday it was in talks with three foreign telecommunications firms who want to buy as much as 49 percent shareholding to kick-start a series of privatisations planned by the government to raise revenue.

NetOne managing director Reward Kangai said the negotiations with the suitors, believed to include South Africa’s MTN, were nearing conclusion.

"We are looking at the offers, and we will be advising our shareholder appropriately soon," he said.

The cash-strapped Zimbabwe government has announced plans to sell off some state -owned companies to raise revenue to bridge a US$800 million budget deficit.

Earlier hopes by the country's new coalition government to raise financial support from Western donors have been dashed by the refusal by major powers to give Zimbabwe assistance with Robert Mugabe still in power.

This has prompted the authorities to line up a number of state-owned companies for sale to raise funds to bridge the budget deficit, and finance other government operations.

In the telecommunications sector, NetOne and its fixed line rival, TelOne, have been put up for sale. The latter is reportedly being courted by South Africa's Telkom, among other international investors.

"We hope the matter is going to be concluded soon," Kangai said.

The authorities have also put up the national carrier, Air Zimbabwe, up for sale, and are debating whether or not to sell-off the country's power utility ZESA as well.

In addition to raising revenue, the government also wants to stem heavy losses which most state-owned companies were making.