RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil-About 15 companies submitted bids last week for ten B-band cellular licenses in Brazil.
One source reported that bids ranged from $200 million for more desolate Amazon basin states to at least $600 million for Sao Paulo city and Sao Paulo state.
Foreign bidders include AirTouch International, BellSouth Corp., STET Societa Finanziaria Telefonica Spa, Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. and Korea Mobile Telecom. Partnerships between bidders were being formed at the last minute and may still be continuing. As such, a formal list of entries had not been released last week. A spokesman for AT&T International said the company is interested in the bidding.
The upcoming award will privatize cellular for the first time. Privately operated but still owned by the government, Telebrasilia dominates the mobile phone market with 27 regional A-band operators. A few other municipally-owned carriers operate in the A-band as well.
B-band bids were strongest in urban regions, particularly Sao Paulo.
Criteria for winners will be based on technical abilities and bid offers, said one report.
It is expected licensees will be announced by the end of May and that the first B-band cellular companies will be operating by early 1998>
