(Adds detail on companies)
ABUJA, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Nigeria has received expressions of interest from 13 potential investors for its sale of at least 75 percent of former state telecoms monopoly Nitel, the country's privatisation agency said.
"Following receipt of the proposals, an evaluation committee has been constituted whose mandate is to independently assess the submissions of each consortium," the Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE) said in a statement issued on Tuesday.
Companies include the Nigerian arms of South Africa's MTN and of Emirates Telecommunications Corp (Etisalat), MTNL India, and Telefonica Consortium, the bureau said.
It said preference would be given to bidders seeking to acquire NITEL fixed lines, its transmission backbone, components of its South Atlantic Terminal underwater cable (SAT-3) and mobile unit MTEL together.
Those bidding separately for MTEL must be ready to make the necessary investment to detach MTEL from the NITEL networks, it said. (Reporting by Camillus Eboh; Writing by Nick Tattersall; Editing by Dan Lalor)