Three operators, PPF register for auction of LTE frequencies

Prague, Sept 11 (CTK) - Four investors have registered for an auction of LTE (Long Term Evolution) frequency bands, the Czech Telecommunication Office (CTU) said in a press release Tuesday.

The applications have only been sent by the bidders, whose names surfaced on Monday already, that is the three mobile operators Telefonica, T-Mobile and Vodafone and the financial group PPF.

The LTE technology offers an Internet connection at a speed of around 150 Mbit/s, which is about five times faster than the 3G speed.

PPF Mobile Services aims to enter the domestic market as a fourth mobile operator. If it succeeds in the auction, it plans to offer the service in one year from granting the licence. It plans to build its own infrastructure in the frequency bands 800 MHz and 1,800 MHz.

Besides LTE, it also wants to provide the GSM service. It will build the operator without a partner, expecting to invest hundreds of millions of euros and employ around 550 people. It promises lower prices by tens of percent and a better quality of services.

The reserve price of the frequencies 800 MHz, 1,800 MHz and 2,600 MHz is Kc7.4bn. Forty blocks will be put up for auction.

The investors who fail to meet the conditions of the auction will be excluded by the CTU by October 10.

The auction itself and the subsequent allocation of frequency blocks will take place this year and a decision on assigning the frequencies to the successful bidders will be issued at the start of 2013 after the bidders pay for the frequency spectrum, said CTU spokesman Frantisek Malina.