re: 3G in France
>> 3G Auction In France To Go Ahead Even With Only Two Bidders
May 21, 2001
3G Newsroom
French Finance Minister Laurent Fabius said on Sunday, France will go ahead with the selling of four 3G licenses even if only two bidders have shown interested and the unsold two licenses will be offered at later stage.
The French government only received two bidders for the four 3G licenses in February from France Telecom and SFR.
Fabius suggested the government might consider offering the unsold licenses at later stage for a lower price.
At the interviewed, he cannot see anyone be interested at the last two 3G licenses even if price reduction was on offered, referring to the market condition and mounting debt scared on the mobile operators.
6th Feb 01: French government said it may lower the prices of UMTS licences in a second round, which now seems necessary since only two parties applied for a licence on the deadline of January 31st. Several parties have now shown renewed interest.
4th Feb 01: The German telecommunications giant Deutsche Telekom is still interested in acquiring a licence for UMTS phones in France, the company's head, Ron Sommer, said.
2nd Feb 01: Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. may reconsider bidding for a third generation telecommunications license in France if bid conditions become more favorable, Managing Director Canning Fok said Friday.
2nd Feb 01: The French Finance Ministry said Thursday that it expects to have awarded two third-generation mobile phone licenses by the end of March.
1st Feb 01: The French government on Wednesday said it would hold a second round of its contest for third generation mobile phone licences, after ART, the telecommunications regulator, received only two bids for the four licences it was offering through a beauty contest.
Second round postponed until May 2002 earliest
30th Jan 01: Bouygues , the parent company of French wireless service Bouygues Telecom, said on Tuesday it had decided not to enter a bid for one of the four French 3G licences.
24th Jan 01: Telefonica and Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux have withdrawn from the French UMTS license contest, cutting the number of bidders down to just three. It leaves only the three incumbent operators pursuing four licenses.
Facts
License Date: first quarter 01, Beauty contest & fixed fee.
Fixed fee of US$47.5 million per license. The 3G licenses will be awarded July 2001. First round attracted only two bidders: France Telecom and SFR.
S&P Profitability Rating: Very Good <<
- Eric - |
