Slovakia receives 3 bids for 3G licenses

DENVER, United States—The Slovak government announced three companies submitted bids for the country’s three third-generation (3G) licenses. Incumbent operators Eurotel and Orange bid for the two individual 3G licenses on offer, while market newcomer Profinet.sk bid for the combined GSM and 3G license.

The combined GSM/3G license is priced at US$32.3 million, while each of the individual 3G licenses will cost US$32 million.

The government will likely award the licenses by end-June. The process was planned as a “beauty contest,” but because of the lack of participants, it will instead be a normal licensing procedure.