Singapore approves all four applicants for 3G licences

The four applicants for 3G mobile communications licences in Singapore were approved Friday to bid in the rights auction, almost guaranteeing their success.

With only four licences for sale, there will be no need for an auction if the companies each opt for a different part of the spectrum.

Singapore's telecoms watchdog, the Infocomm Development Authority (IDA), which confirmed the applicants, said it will announce within 48 hours of receiving the opening bids on April 9 if the auction is to proceed.

The licences carry a minimum price tag of 100 million Singapore dollars (55.8 million US).

The four confirmed bidders are Sunday Communications and the three Singapore telecom companies Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel), MobileOne and StarHub.

Sunday's executive director Richard Siemens has said he did not expect to "need to pay more than 100 million dollars for the licence."

When the 3G auction was first announced last October there were estimates each licence would return at least two billion dollars, after similar auctions proved a windfall for European governments.

But as interest waned the Singapore auction was first put back from February to April and then the government slashed the licence reserve price from 150 million Singapore dollars to 100 million Singapore dollars to arouse interest.

The 3G system allows dramatically faster mobile applications than those currently possible, including video communication using mobile phones and high-speed Internet access.