The U.K. government in March began the auction of five licenses, with one license exclusively reserved for a player currently not represented in the U.K. market. The 13 bidders each submitted the required deposit of about US$82.3 million.
More than US$1 billion was bid during the first week for the third-generation licenses, with some of the largest bids submitted for License A, the license reserved for a newcomer. The auction will end once only one bidder for each license remains.
In Spain, six groups submitted bids to the Spanish government for four UMTS licenses to be awarded in March. Telefonica Moviles, the country’s largest cellular provider, and Retevision, the third-largest mobile operator in Spain, are said to be the front runners. Also bidding are Airtel, Mannesmann, a consortium led by Deutsche Telekom, and a consortium called Movi2 that is led by a France Telecom-backed fixed-line provider.
