NTL Mobile closed out the latest round of bidding in the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System auction last week in the United Kingdom with a $1.7 billion bid for license A, an increase of more than $855 million from the highest bid the week prior.
None of the 13 original companies that submitted deposits of about $82.3 million to enter the auction more than 65 rounds ago had withdrawn.
Vodafone AirTouch plc bid $1.63 billion for license B, a number that went unchallenged the rest of the week after BT3G made a much-anticipated move to usurp Vodafone AirTouch during round 62 Tuesday with a bid of $1.56 billion.
License C garnered offers more than twice the value of those made during the previous week, and top bids for the license changed hands several times. Spain’s Telefonica had the highest bid for three rounds, but WorldCom Wireless took the lead on Friday with a bid of $1.23 billion.
The previous week’s high bidders, One.Tel and Crescent Wireless Ltd., each of which had bid $462.6 million, were nowhere to be found in the fight for license C, but Crescent joined BT3G, 3GUK and SpectrumCo in the battle for license D.
All four companies topped out last week’s bids for license D with $1.205 billion.
Orange plc held the highest bid for license E with $1.28 billion, although Canada-based Telesystem International Wireless Inc. and WorldCom Wireless each challenged Orange for license E throughout the week. Orange had been a top contender for license B for several weeks.
License A, which is reserved for a new player in the U.K. wireless arena, consists of two by 15 megahertz of paired spectrum and 5 megahertz of unpaired spectrum, and is the largest block of spectrum allocated.
License B is the second-highest spectrum allocation with two by 15 megahertz of paired spectrum, and licenses C, D and E each offer two by 10 megahertz of paired spectrum and 5 megahertz of unpaired spectrum.
The auction is expected to last several more weeks.
