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Technology Stocks : Vodafone-Airtouch (NYSE: VOD) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jules Shear who wrote (2905)	7/17/2000 2:13:46 PM
From: MrGreenJeans	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3175

Dutch Mobile License Bids Increase; Versatel, KPN Top Bidders By Adri den Broeder MGJ Comment: Interesting to see Vod bidding for license E. I wonder if Versatel is sweating tonight bidding for an expensive license they probably cannot afford considering they have no network in place. Scheveningen, Netherlands, July 17 (Bloomberg) -- Bids in the Netherlands' auction of five new wireless licenses rose on the eighth day to 582.3 million euros ($544 million), with Versatel 3G NV and KPN Mobile Netherlands BV in the lead. Versatel's bid for license A, which offers higher capacity, was the highest at 277.8 million euros. KPN bid the highest for license B at 252.3 million euros. Bids on the other three licenses rose to as much as 18.24 million euros. Analysts say the government is unlikely to garner the 10 billion euros it anticipated from the sale. On the first day of bidding, the six companies used their right to abstain from three rounds of bidding, forcing the government to lower prices to zero from an initial minimum of 43 million euros. The U.K. in April raised $34 billion in its auction for five licenses, attracting 13 companies. In the Netherlands, the five companies that already own a mobile network are expected to win the licenses. That has deterred new entrants from bidding and will keep the price low, analysts said. The Dutch Transport Ministry's auction resumes tomorrow in a hotel in a resort town near The Hague. The following is a table of today's results from the ministry, after 203 rounds of bidding in eight days: License Highest Bid (Euros) Bidder A 277.8 million Versatel 3G NV B 252.3 million KPN C 18.24 million Dutchtone Multimedia BV D 15.79 million Telfort Holding NV E 18.15 million Libertel NV Total 582.28 million KPN is the Netherlands' largest mobile phone company. Libertel is majority-owned by Vodafone AirTouch Plc. Telfort is a unit of 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. All the bidders except Versatel already own mobile phone networks in the Netherlands. The Transport Ministry, which is handling the auction, releases results each day after 6 p.m. local time in English and Dutch at www.veilenvanfrequenties.nl.