BUENOS AIRES, Argentina-The National Telecommunications Council in Ecuador assigned two of the three national 3.4 GHz to 3.6 GHz bands for wireless local loop (WLL) services to TV Cable and Sakon Holdings for the next 15 years for US$3.2 million and US$2.1 million respectively. The third available band was left unassigned, as there were no offers made by any of the companies pre-qualified for the license application.
Ecuadorian company TV Cable plans to offer a fixed wireless and data transmission service in March 2003, with an aim to attract more than 150,000 new customers in a five-year period. To achieve this, TV Cable plans to invest US$100 million during this time frame.
The group Sakon Holdings Ecuador, which consists of Ecuadorian and U.S. investors, plans to offer its services at the beginning of 2003 and aims to build a customer base of 75,000 during the initial five years with an investment of US$45 million.
Of the seven companies that qualified for the auction, five were present for the license auction-Entel Chile, Impsat, Beijing Guang Huan Telecom Group and the two companies that won the licenses. TV Cable and Sakon Holdings were, however, the only companies that presented their own economic proposals.
