All, *Argentine Spectrum Auction*
Seven firms prequalify for Argentine
PCS tender
BUENOS AIRES, May 19 (Reuters) - Seven companies have
prequalified to participate in Argentina's auction of two Personal
Communications System (PCS) wireless telephone licenses, the
Communications Department said Wednesday.
The seven companies were the only ones to present technical bids and are now tentatively
scheduled to bid for two 40 megahertz (MHz) licenses for the Buenos Aires area, the country's
most dense and lucrative, on May 27. The base price for each license will be $100 million.
The two companies with existing operations in the area, Movicom and Miniphone, have preferential
bids for two new 20 MHz licenses, paying the average price per MHz paid for the first two.
Communications Subsecretary Alejandro Cima told Reuters last month he expected the process to
fetch around $500 million, coming off a base price of $300 million for all four licenses.
The Communications Department said the following companies are prequalified to compete:
Hutchison Telecomunicaciones Argentinas SA; GTE Corp. (NYSE:GTE - news) affiliate GTE PCS
SA; Telefonica Comunicaciones Personales SA - Telecom SA, a venture between Argentina's two
largest telephone operators Telefonica de Argentina and Telecom Argentina ; Postcom SA, which is
owned by Washington Post Co. (NYSE:WPO - news); Airtech SA, a venture part-owned by
Argentine conglomerate Techint; Electrosecur Telecomunicaciones SA; and Inversiones en
Telecomunicaciones, owned by Canada's Telesystem International Wireless Inc. (Toronto:TIW.TO
- news).
The auction has been postponed three times and was only given the go-ahead last week by an
Argentine court. The original auction was scheduled for October 1997.
PCS systems are touted as having a clearer, stronger signal and using less battery power than other
mobile phones.
More Quotes
and News:
GTE Corp (NYSE:GTE - news)
Telesystem International Wireless Inc (Toronto:TIW.TO - news)
WASH POST CL B (NYSE:WPO - news) |
