BUENOS AIRES, Argentina—The telecom regulator of Uruguay, Unidad Reguladora de Servicios de Comunicaciones (URSEC), has decided to postpone the auction of personal communications services (PCS) and third-generation (3G) licenses that was originally going to take place on 26 November until 10 December. On that date, the Uruguayan government will assign eight sets of frequencies for 20 years with a base price of US$6 million for each set.
This competitive process is the first experience whereby 30 megahertz in the 1800 MHz band, another 50 megahertz in the 1900 MHz band and a further 30 megahertz in the 2100 MHz band will be offered jointly, a result of wanting to allow the participants increased flexibility in use of spectrum. The auction’s winners must begin to offer their services over the frequencies within 30 months, covering 10 percent of the population before the end of year six, and 25 percent by the end of year 10.
URSEC will determine which companies have been pre-selected during the last week of November. It is said that along with Movicom Bellsouth and Ancel—the only two cellular operators in Uruguay—Verizon, Telef
