The Supreme Court of India has cancelled 122 telecoms licences that were awarded in the country’s 2G auction. The country sold its 2G spectrum licences in 2008 on a first-come, first-served basis. However, it emerged that they were sold unlawfully, with former cabinet minister Andimuthu Raja currently in jail awaiting trial for his role in the scandal. As a result, it is estimated that the country lost around $40bn in lost revenue by not auctioning the licences.
French regulator Arcep has said that it has awarded 4G licences in the 800Mhz band to the incumbent operators Bouygues, Orange and SFR. Fourth applicant Free Mobile, owned by Iliad, was not successful. All four operators were previously awarded 4G licences at 2.6GHz.
The Greek mobile market is in a spin this week after national regulator the EETT issued a proposal for the re-auctioning of GSM spectrum licenses which are due to expire in 2012. The move is controversial because it is an unusual renewal process, but also because the authority has set reserve prices at more than double the European average.
Surging mobile data growth and network congestion have created demand for additional spectrum. Governments seeking to reduce national borrowing are anxious to auction additional spectrum to raise revenue whilst also promoting access to broadband services. Mobile operators have little choice but to participate or potentially suffer a loss of competitive advantage.
The UK arm of Telefónica, O2, has released a statement blasting UK regulator Ofcom’s consultation over the forthcoming digital dividend spectrum auction.
The operator is objecting to the use of spectrum floors, whereby at least four operators will get at least 10MHz of spectrum below 1GHz. However, O2 believe that these spectrum floors amount to a state aid, which would make them illegal under EU law.
The French auction for LTE spectrum is now imminent after French digital economy minister Éric Besson signed a decree launching the tender for operators to submit their bids, The process will begin in the coming days, French newspaper Le Monde reported, once the announcement is published in an official gazette. Operators will have until September to submit their bids.
The top three local mobile operators in Thailand, AIS, DTAC and True Move, were the only companies to apply to bid in the upcoming 3G spectrum auction. Qualified bidders will be announced on September 15, 2010. Licenses auctioned will be valid for 15 years for 15MHz bandwidth in the 2100MHz band.
Regulators across Europe are busy this year auctioning spectrum in the 2.6GHz spectrum frequency range as well as other frequencies including the 800MHz Digital Dividend. 800MHz spectrum is clearly of great value to operators as the equivalent US auction demonstrated.
US chip shop Qualcomm has confirmed its intention to bid in India’s upcoming auction for Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) spectrum.
The long delayed auction of 3G spectrum in India has been given a new date – April 9, 2010.
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