The Argentine government, in an attempt to proceed with the PCS auctions currently in judicial limbo, is considering selling two PCS licenses each for the northern and southern regions of the country, excluding the greater Buenos Aires area. This maneuvering would speed up the deployment of PCS networks, but inevitably would lower the attractiveness of the licenses to the many interested parties.
The Australian Federal Government announced the release of spectrum in the 3.4 GHz band in the hope of further facilitating competition for local telephone services. The spectrum likely would be used for wireless local loop.
In addition, the Australian Communications Authority has sold the remaining spectrum licenses in the 800 MHz and 1.8 MHz bands in a second PCS (Personal Communications Services) auction, adding another A$30 million (US$18.7 million) to government coffers. Telecommunications service provider One.Tel Ltd., a relative newcomer, paid almost A$9.5 million (US$5.9 million) for spectrum in the country’s five mainland capital cities. Existing license holders, Hutchison Telephone Pty. Ltd. and Vodafone Network No. 2 Pty. Ltd. paid A$14 million (US$8.7 million) and A$5 million (US$3 million) respectively for additional bandwidth. Telstra Corp. Ltd. (almost A$2 million) and OzPhone Pty. Ltd. (A$150,000), a wholly owned subsidiary of Leap Wireless International Inc. (recently spun off from Qualcomm Inc.), also bought extra spectrum.
Telecom Italia won a 25-percent stake in Telekom Austria.
A consortium led by Mobilkom of Austria won the concession for Croatia’s second mobile network.
Guatemala’s state-owned telephone company, Telgua, was sold on 1 October to Luca S.A., a regional consortium of financial and industrial groups from Guatemala and Honduras. The consortium paid US$700 million for 95 percent of the company, the remaining 5 percent going to company workers and other Guatemalan investors. The auction, which initially was scheduled for 25 September, was suspended after the company’s investment adviser, J.P. Morgan, advised against it, reportedly because no qualified international bidder confirmed participation. Luca was allowed to participate in the tender after the rules were changed on 29 September to allow for the participation of non-operators. In late October, Mexican telecommunications giant Telefonos de Mexico (Telmex) agreed to an alliance with Luca to participate in the Guatemalan market.
On 18 September, the Congress in Honduras’ approved the privatization authorization bill for the state-owned telephone company Hondutel. The law also authorizes Conatel, the country’s regulatory agency, to solicit bids for a B-band cellular operator. However, in late October a hurricane devastated Central America, killing thousands, with Honduras the hardest hit. At Global Wireless press time, the country was just beginning recovery efforts. The tragedy likely will delay any privatization efforts since the country’s infrastructure was badly damaged.
Just prior to the hurricane, Hoduras’ southern neighbor Nicaragua also had announced privatization plans for its state telecom operator Enitel. Hard-hit by floods and mudslides from the hurricane, it was uncertain at press time how privatization plans would be affected.
Italy may auction a fourth mobile license.
The government of Peru is planning to auction a nationwide PCS license in 1999, to compete with incumbent cellular operators Telefonica del Peru and Tele2000, a BellSouth Corp. operation. Neither Telefonica del Peru nor Tele2000 would be allowed to take part in the auction process, said Jose Manuel Ortecho, an official at regulatory agency Osiptel, but would be allowed to participate in future tenders. There are no foreign-ownership restrictions in Peru.
The Philippines has deferred its PCS auction.
The government of Trinidad & Tobago announced plans to open its market to cellular competition. The existing operator is 51-percent state-owned, with Cable & Wireless plc owning the other 49 percent.
The Turkish Transport Minister reportedly said the country plans to offer two new GSM 1800 MHz licenses, with one offered as an international tender and the other going to state-owned Turk Telekom.
