Latvian government expects many options for UMTS, GSM auctioning

date: 21st February 2001

The consulting company to be selected for the organisation of the auction of the third mobile telecommunication operator licence in Latvia will have to suggest several options for auctioning three UMTS system licences and one GSM 1800 system licence.

In the interview broadcast by the Latvian public television, Transportation Minister Anatolijs Gorbunovs, who is responsible also for telecommunications in the country, said that the government will review all options and select the most appropriate of them.

Under the government resolutions adopted so far, the UMTS licence and GSM 1800 licence will be sold to the third operator at an auction, and two more UMTS licenses will be offered to the existing Latvian mobile telecommunication operators, LMT and Baltkom GSM, at the same price for which the UMTS licence was sold at the auction.

Several options are possible, however, said Gorbunovs. For example, the GSM 1800 licence to the third operator could be auctioned separately from the UMTS licence, or two UMTS licenses meant for existing Latvian mobile telecommunications operators could be put up for sale in separate auctions instead of selling them for the price determined in the auction to the third operator.

The consulting company will have to prepare different options and outline their advantages so that the government could chose the best option, the Transportation Minister said.

He said the government will have sufficient choice of appropriate advisors because such consultations had been done in five or six European countries already.

Gorbunovs also rejected the assumption that the third mobile telecommunications operator will focus on operations in large Latvian cities to get a return on its investment at the auction as soon as possible.

The Minister said that the auction provisions will set forth requirements to the new operator as regards area to be covered by its network and the required investments.

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