Hutchison ponder 3G in Poland
February 27, 2005
Hong Kong's Hutchison Whampoa is considering bidding in the upcoming Polish mobile phone license auction to operate 3G wireless services, reported the Hong Kong Standard.
The Telecommunications and Postal Regulatory Office (URTiP) is offering two sets of frequencies, one for UMTS and another for the 2G standard GSM which could lead to the entry of a fourth operator.
In 2000, the Polish regulator called off the 3G license auction after receiving just three bids for the five available licenses. The bids were from the existing phone companies in the country. Hutchison, which has 3G licenses in other European countries, pulled out from the auction due to high market risk.
Other potential new bidders for the latest Polish auction include domestic fixed-line operator Netia Holdings and Sweden's Tele2.
URTiP has yet to finalise the terms of the 3G licenses and there are concerns that the three bidders could pull out of the bidding. The problem lies with whether the regulator will allow them to use the existing 2G networks of the three current domestic operators until they complete roll out of their own infrastructure.
Poland's current mobile operators - Polska Telefonia Cyfrowa, Polkomtel and Telekomunikacja Polska - are opposed to opening their networks to a new operator. They are likely to get their wish as URTiP president Witold Grabos said it could lead to a legal challenge to the entire tender if an new entrant was allowed to use existing networks from the current operators.
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