BUENOS AIRES, Argentina—Against all predictions, the government of Uruguay has decided to jointly auction licenses for personal communications services (PCS) and third generation (3G) services. The sale consists of 50 megahertz in the 1800 MHz band, another 50 megahertz in the 1900 MHz band and 30 megahertz in the 2100 MHz frequency, all in lots of 5 megahertz to allow the participating companies as much flexibility as possible in the use of the spectrum.
The specific award process has not yet been defined, but the country’s telecom regulator, Unidad Reguladora de Servicios de Comunicaciones (URSEC), has opened a forum for public consultation that will last until 28 September. After this date, URSEC will publish the auction documents, and applications will be received from those interested in participating until 30 October. These applications will go through a prequalification process on the basis of the applicants’ experience and economic solvency.
There are currently two cellular operators in Uruguay, Ancel and Movicom BellSouth, which have a penetration of 12 percent over a population of 5 million inhabitants. It is still undetermined whether they will both be able to participate in the auction under the same conditions as the new participants, among which Telef
