Albania
Albania said it plans to issue a public tender to sell a majority stake in Albanian Mobile Communications, the sole cellular provider in the country. The government also plans to offer a license for a second GSM operator at the same time.
Hungary
The Primatel consortium, including AirTouch Communications of the United States and RWE Telliance of Germany, won the tender for a third mobile license in Hungary. The consortium paid US$202.4 million for the nationwide GSM 900 license, in which AirTouch will own a 50.1-percent stake. The group, which plans to launch service in Budapest by the end of the year, won in the bidding against consortia that included Mannesmann and Orange. It will compete in the Hungarian market against Westel, an NMT 450 and GSM 900 provider owned by MediaOne and Matav; and Pannon GSM, a GSM 900 operator owned by KPN Telecom, Tele Danmark, Telenor and Sonera.
Ireland
Seven companies have applied for fixed wireless point-to-multipoint access (FWPMA) licenses in Ireland. Four licenses will be issued for broadband services and the same number for narrowband. The applicants for broadband licenses were Broadnet Ireland, Ocean, Esat Telecom, Formus Communications Ireland, Princes Holdings and Telecom Eireann. The last four of those companies, in addition to United Pan-European Communications Ireland, also applied for narrowband licenses. The 10-year licenses will be awarded in August.
United Kingdom
The U.K. government plans to auction five third-generation mobile phone licenses early next year, explaining more competition will drive down prices and spur innovative services. Last year, the United Kingdom said it would auction four 3G licenses by mid-1999, but postponed its auction plans several times. It now has included an extra license reserved for a new entrant, which will have a larger license area than the other four licensees and the right to roam onto at least one second-generation network. The majority of 3G licensees are expected to be given to existing mobile phone operators, which will have the advantage of offering 3G customers access to their current-generation systems for seamless service. Mandating roaming for a new entrant, says the Office of Telecommunications, will ensure the licensee’s ability to compete with existing players. The United Kingdom currently has four mobile phone operators: Cellnet, One-2-One, Orange and Vodafone.
