Vodafone Australia has pulled out of the country’s upcoming 4G spectrum auction following the announcement that a reserve price has been set.
Rival telco Optus has said it is reconsidering participating in the auction, according to media reports.
On…
Vodafone Australia has pulled out of the country’s upcoming 4G spectrum auction following the announcement that a reserve price has been set.
Rival telco Optus has said it is reconsidering participating in the auction, according to media reports.
On Friday, Stephen Conroy, Australia’s minister for broadband, communications and the digital economy directed the Australian Communications and Media Authority to set the reserve price for 700MHz spectrum at A$1.36 (US$1.43) per MHz per population.
David Epstein, vice president of corporate and regulatory affairs at Optus, said that the price set is “double the price” of the same spectrum in other parts of the world, according to the reports.
“This spectrum is seen as the ‘waterfront property’ of spectrum and the government has made a significant investment to free it up,” said Conroy in a statement. “It is important that we get a reasonable return on this valuable public asset.”
“In setting the reserve price, the government has taken into consideration expert advice and consulted with relevant agencies including the ACMA.”
Competing telco Telstra is yet to announce its plans on the 4G auction.
As TelecomFinance previously reported, the auction was meant to be held in November 2012 but has been pushed back to April 2013.
The postponement followed a recommendation by ACMA, which argued that a delay would increase product certainty for bidders. It would also give acquirers more time to plan and deploy networks before the licences commence in January 2015.
