Below is a summary of spectrum auctions completed this year that I did not report on. Some of these auctions are particularly interesting. For example, the 2.3 GHz band auction in Hong Kong follows a failed attempt to auction this band in early 2009. At that time, the hype around WiMAX was subsiding as interest in LTE was gathering strength. Now, three companies won the 90 MHz band for about $61m. One of the winners told me of their plan to use the band for LTE services, although this would be TD-LTE. No indication as to when it will happen.
Another interesting one is the Thai 3G auction that raised just about the reserve price, a natural consequence to limited number of bidders (3). AIS being the only company paying slightly above the reserve price after reportedly outbidding itself. The winners are accused of price fixing. Regardless of what happened, one cannot expect a competitive auction when the number of bidders equals the available bands. The failure is in not having more players. Alternatively, the reserve price ought to have been higher, which is a failure by the regulators. I don’t mean to defend the winners – but this is an expected consequence when competition is absent.
| Honk Kong | ||||||
| Date | 6-Feb-12 | |||||
| Operator | Band |
Channel |
Bandwidth (MHz) | Price (HK$) | Price ($) |
$/MHz-PoP |
| Hutchinson Telecom | 2360 – 2390 MHz |
1×30 MHz |
30 | 150,000,000 | 19,341,000 |
0.091 |
| 21 ViaNet Group Ltd. | 2300 – 2330 MHz |
1×30 MHz |
30 | 150,000,000 | 19,341,000 |
0.091 |
| China Mobile Hong Kong | 2330 – 2360 MHz |
1×30 MHz |
30 | 170,000,000 | 21,919,800 |
0.103 |
| Total |
470,000,000 |
60,601,800 |
0.095 |
|||
| Denmark | ||||||
| Date | 26-Jun-12 | |||||
| Operator | Band |
Channel |
Bandwidth (MHz) | Price (DKK) | Price ($) |
$/MHz-PoP |
| TDC | 801-821 / 842-862 MHz |
2×20 MHz |
40 | 627,804,000 | 105,646,857 |
0.476 |
| TT Network | 791-801 / 832-842 MHz |
2×10 MHz |
20 | 111,463,000 | 18,756,994 |
0.169 |
| Total |
739,267,000 |
124,403,851 |
0.374 |
|||
| Chile | ||||||
| Date | 30-Jul-12 | |||||
| Operator | Band |
Channel |
Bandwidth (MHz) | Price (UF) | Price ($) |
$/MHz-PoP |
| Claro | 2.505 – 2.525 / 2.625 – 2.645 MHz |
2×20 MHz |
40 | 62,196 | 2,905,720 |
0.004 |
| Entel | 2.525 – 2.545 / 2.645 – 2.665 MHz |
2×20 MHz |
40 | 189,349 | 8,846,090 |
0.013 |
| Movistar | 2.545 – 2.565 / 2.665 – 2.685 MHz |
2×20 MHz |
40 | 10,777 | 503,484 |
0.001 |
| Total |
262,322 |
12,255,294 |
0.012 |
|||
| Romania | ||||||
| Date | 24-Sep-12 | |||||
| Operator | Band |
Channel |
Bandwidth (MHz) | Total (MHz) | Price (€) |
€/MHz-PoP |
| Cosmote | 800 MHz |
2×5 MHz |
10 | 100 | 179,880,000 |
0.094 |
| 900 MHz |
2×10 MHz |
20 |
||||
| 1800 MHz |
2×25 MHz |
50 |
||||
| 2600 MHz |
2×10 MHz |
20 |
||||
| Vodafone | 800 MHz |
2×10 MHz |
20 | 170 | 228,520,034 |
0.104+ |
| 900 MHz |
2×10 MHz 2×12.5 MHz* |
2025* | ||||
| 1800 MHz |
2×30 MHz 2×15 MHz* |
60 30* |
||||
| 2600 MHz |
1×15 MHz |
15 |
||||
| Orange | 800 MHz |
2×10 MHz |
20 | 175 | 227,135,002 |
0.099+ |
| 900 MHz |
2×10 MHz 2×12.5 MHz* |
20 25* |
||||
| 1800 MHz |
2×30 MHz 2×15 MHz* |
60 30* |
||||
| 2600 MHz |
2×20 MHz |
40 |
||||
| RCS & RDS | 900 MHz |
2×5 MHz |
10 | 10 | 40,000,000 |
0.210 |
| 2K Telecom | 2600 MHz |
1×30 MHz |
30 | 30 | 6,601,000 |
0.012 |
| Total |
485 |
682,136,036 |
0.096 |
|||
| Notes:* short-term license, valid until April 5, 2014+ Excludes short term licenses | ||||||
| Thailand | ||||||
| Date | 17-Oct-12 | |||||
| Operator | Band |
Channel |
Bandwidth (MHz) | Price (THB, b) | Price ($, m) |
$/MHz-PoP |
| Advanced Info Service (AIS) | 2100 MHz |
2×15 MHz |
30 | 14.625 | 475.9 |
0.228 |
| TRUE | 2100 MHz |
2×15 MHz |
30 | 13.5 | 439.3 |
0.211 |
| Total Access Communication (DTAC) | 2100 MHz |
2×15 MHz |
30 | 13.5 | 439.3 |
0.211 |
| Total |
42 |
1,354 |
0.216 |
|||
As I post this, another auction is happening in the Netherlands which would be interesting to follow. I will report on it in a future entry.
Great info Frank 😉 cheers! Raúl