SYDNEY, Australia-The Australian Communications Authority completed its personal communications services spectrum auction May 25, netting the government about $216.3 million for 211 of the 230 lots offered in the 800 MHz and 1800 MHz bands.
Auction winners included four new licensees: Hutchison Telephone Pty Ltd., AAPT Wireless Pty Ltd., Catapult Communications and Qualcomm Inc.-owned OzPhone.
Existing mobile carrier Telstra was awarded the most licenses, and other Australian wireless players, Optus and Vodafone Group plc, also were significant winners, said ACA.
Telstra, which paid almost $109 million for its licenses, likely will build on its Global System for Mobile communications network and introduce a number of new value-added services.
Hutchison, the largest paging company in Australia, was the second-highest bidder at about $35.2 million. The company apparently plans to diversify its service offering with its new PCS licenses in Melbourne and Sydney.
Optus and Vodafone also obtained licenses to complement their existing nationwide GSM networks for $31.6 million and $26.2 million, respectively.
OzPhone obtained licenses in Brisbane, Perth, Cairns, Mackay, Maryborough, Grafton, Tasmania and western Australia for about $6.2 million. Qualcomm is the sole owner of OzPhone stock. Catapult, a U.S. manufacturing company, won licenses in Cairns and southern Australia for less than $125,500.
International companies, especially those from the United States, initially had shown little interest in the Australian auction. It seems potential buyers were concerned about entering a mature market, boasting the world’s second-highest per-capita use of mobile phones. Inter-carrier roaming also was a point of contention, and it was viewed that the auction process favored incumbents.
The Australian PCS licenses are for 15-year terms. ACA already has received expressed interest in the unsold lots, and plans to conduct another price-based allocation soon, the regulatory agency said.
