Libertel Bids EU45.4 Mln in First Day of Dutch Mobile Auction
By Adri den Broeder
Scheveningen, Netherlands, July 6 (Bloomberg) -- Libertel NV, majority-owned by Vodafone AirTouch Plc, was the highest bidder on the first day of the Netherlands' wireless license auction with an offer of 45.4 million euros ($43.3 million).
Libertel's bid was the highest after nine rounds of bidding. By abstaining from some early rounds, the six potential buyers forced the government to lower its minimum bid requirement and the top bids for the other four licenses currently range from 90,000 to 180,000 euros.
While the prices are expected to rise tomorrow as bidding continues, today's result shows that the government isn't likely to get the 10 billion euros it expected for the licenses, analysts said. Today's total was 45.8 million euros.
The permits will let companies offer faster Internet access and video on mobile phones. Five of the companies currently offer mobile-phone services in the Netherlands, and are expected to win the licenses.
The Transport Ministry's auction resumes tomorrow in a hotel in a resort town near The Hague. Each company has three chances to abstain. There will be a maximum of 30 rounds of bidding.
Hutchison Whampoa Ltd., Hong Kong's largest conglomerate, and NTL Inc., the U.K.'s No. 1 cable company, withdrew from the auction before the bidding began today.
The following is a table of today's results from the Transport Ministry:
License Highest Bid (Euros) Bidder
A 90,000 Telfort Holding NV
B 45,380,000 Libertel NV
C 140,000 Dutchtone Multimedia BV
D 90,000 3G Blue BV
E 180,000 Versatel 3G NV
Total 45,800,000
Telfort is owned by British Telecommunications Plc. Dutchtone is majority-owned by France Telecom SA. 3G Blue is a venture of Belgacom, Tele Danmark AS and Deutsche Telekom AG. Versatel 3G is a unit of Versatel Telecom International NV.
The sixth bidder is Royal KPN NV, the biggest Dutch phone company. All the bidders except Versatel currently own mobile phone networks in the Netherlands.
The Transport Ministry, which is handling the auction, releases results each day after 5 p.m. local time in English and Dutch at www.veilenvanfrequenties.nl. |
