OXFORD, United Kingdom—Latvia and the Czech Republic have both indicated their readiness to deploy third-generation (3G) networks, albeit within different timescales. Operators in Latvia will be able to bid for 3G spectrum rights this June under the condition that services are launched by early 2004, while the best estimate given by the Czech operator EuroTel is that services will be offered sometime during the next five years.
The Latvian government hopes to raise about 26 million euro (US$22.9 million) for the one GSM 1800 MHz and two 3G licenses that it will put up for auction in June. The two existing cell-phone operators, Latvijas Mobilais Telefons owned by Telia and Sonera, and Tele2 owned by Sweden’s NetCom, have yet to confirm any interest in bidding.
Meanwhile, EuroTel said it is happy to wait and let other 3G operators in Western Europe be the pioneers in the expectation the company can then learn from their mistakes. The company, which is one of two operators that purchased 3G licenses, is not required to launch services until the beginning of 2005. EuroTel confirmed that it will spend the intervening years evaluating the new technology and watching how demand develops in Western Europe.
