Austrian auction will be finished soon

date: 05 November 2000, source: UMTS Weekly

Thursday Nov 2 saw the Austrian 3G auction start, although it is thought that there may be little point in starting it at all. There are six licences on offer, and six groups in the running: Mobilkom, max.mobil, Telefonica, tele.ring, Connect Austria and Hutchison. The Italian experience and the number of licences vs. number of bidders has worried analysts and even the Austrian government has recognised that there is little hope, reducing expectations from EUR2.9bn to EUR305mn. The bidding will only get going if one of the players bids for more than their natural share. Twelve blocks of spectrum are available, and it is expected that bidders will go for two blocks each. If any of the players go for a third block, then maybe the competition will increase. Each bidder must buy at least two, but not more than three.

The latest bids from the Austrian auction, which started on Nov. 2, are in (all figures are in million EUR):

3G Mobile 106
Connect 103
Hutchison 3G 114
max.mobil 108
Mannesmann 3G 102
Mobilkom 108

The bids have totalled EUR641M.

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