Belgium's 3G Auction Expected To Begin March 7

date: 19th January 2001

Belgium said Friday its auction of third-generation mobile telephone licenses is expected to begin March 7.

The government said interested operators need to submit applications Feb. 8. The Belgian Institute of Postal Services and Telecommunications, or BIPT, will review whether the operators' candidacy should be accepted and a final decision will be made by the Council of Ministers on Feb. 16, a member of Telecommunications Minister Rik Daems' cabinet said.

The ministers will consider the BIPT's advice and study whether any of the candidates have conflicts of interests in their ownership structure. The auction will start March 7 if the ministers approve the candidates.

The government had wanted to have the applications submitted by mid-January, but had to wait for Daems to sign an administrative decree.

Belgium had been expected to start its auction for four Universal Mobile Telecommunications System, or UMTS licenses, in mid-December, but legislative hurdles delayed the process.

Each 3G mobile telecom operator will get 25% of the available bandwidth. If only three companies bid to set up a 3G mobile network, the remaining quarter of bandwidth won't be allocated. It would be left free until another interested party surfaced in the future.

Although the three companies with Belgian second-generation, or GSM licenses - Belgacom (B.BCM) unit Proximus, France Telecom's (FTE) Mobistar NV (B.MSR) and KPN Orange Belgium NV - are expected to bid for licenses, it's not clear which other companies might join.

French utility Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux (F.SZE) and partner Telefonica (TEF) of Spain are also considering bidding. Other possible contenders include Canada's Telesystem International Wireless Inc. (TIWI) and Vivendi SA's (F.VVN) SFR unit of France.

The minimum price for a license has been set at EUR150 million, but the government hopes to raise $1 billion to $1.5 billion during the auction.

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