Australia
Australia’s third-generation (3G) spectrum auction fell well short of the federal government’s budget forecasts of A$2.6 billion (US$1.3 billion). Six bidders paid a total of almost A$1.17 billion (US$577 million) for spectrum in the 2 GHz band. The auction felt an early blow when Telecom New Zealand pulled out on the eve of the bidding. Telstra was the largest buyer, spending more than A$302 million (US$149 million) for 15 megahertz of paired and 5 megahertz of unpaired spectrum in all capital cities and 10 megahertz of paired spectrum in regional areas. The next-largest spenders were Vodafone Pacific with A$253.6 million (US$125 million) and Optus with A$248.9 million (US$123 million) for spectrum in metropolitan and regional areas. Other successful bidders were Hutchison Telecommunications Australia (A$196.1 million); 3G Investments (A$159 million), backed by Qualcomm; and CKW Wireless (A$9.5 million), a subsidiary of U.S.-based ArrayComm.
Singapore
The Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) of Singapore decided not to hold a third-generation (3G) auction. The three final bidders-SingTel Mobile, MobileOne (M1) and StarHub-each bid for different spectrum, thus alleviating the need for an auction. SingTel Mobile was offered the slightly larger spectrum right B, while StarHub got spectrum right A. That left M1 with right C, which is the area its current CDMA spectrum occupies. The three operators each paid IDA US$55.5 million, and analysts said the spectrum was quite reasonably priced at US$41 per head. SingTel Mobile Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Lucas Chow said SingTel Mobile is pleased with the outcome. It will now focus its energies on preparing for the deployment of the 3G network, as well as the rollout of new services and applications. M1 CEO Neil Montefiore said the overall cost for the evolution to 3G services is looking to be considerably lower than previously estimated, eventually benefiting customers. Patricia Sharma, StarHub’s vice president of marketing, said IDA had made a prudent and fair decision, taking into account the interest of the operators and consumers. The race is now on to see which operator will be the first to roll out 3G services, which are expected to hit the market in 2003. Hong Kong’s Sunday Communications pulled out of the Singapore 3G license process, leaving only three bidders for the four licenses on offer. Sunday had submitted its application to join the auction, but did not submit an initial offer or bank guarantee. IDA spokeswoman Dulcie Chan said that because none of the eligible bidders put in offers for the same spectrum rights, there was no need for an auction. A fourth license will now be awarded next year. Sunday Group Managing Director Craig Ehrlich said the carrier decided to withdraw because it ran out of time to secure complete project financing. It was close to resolving the issue, he said, but without full approval, it made no sense to push forward. Ehrlich added that Sunday might submit a bid for the fourth license next year.
South Korea
Korea Telecom said it would sell a 4-percent stake, or 3.5 million shares, in SK Telecom, the country’s largest mobile provider. Korea Telecom owns a 13.4-percent stake in SK Telecom. International press reports said the company did not say when the sale would take place. Korea Telecom is also looking to sell a 15-percent government stake to a foreign telecom company and 16 percent through American Depositary Receipts by the end of June. The government currently owns 58 percent of Korea Telecom and will sell the remaining 27 percent to domestic investors by June 2002.
