A consortium comprising Belgian cablecos Telent and Voo could be granted the country’s fourth 3G licence before summer, local regulator BIPT has announced.
The partnership was the only bidder in BIPT’s auction, which was launched on 15 March.
A price for…
A consortium comprising Belgian cablecos Telent and Voo could be granted the country’s fourth 3G licence before summer, local regulator BIPT has announced.
The partnership was the only bidder in BIPT’s auction, which was launched on 15 March.
A price for the licence was not disclosed.
Back in January, Telenet claimed regulatory issues had prevented it from taking part in the process.
“Under the given circumstances, in which an extreme regulatory framework (unique in the world) is being proposed – and the uncertainties triggered by this situation, Telenet is no longer able to stand for the 3G licence,” a spokesperson for the group said in an emailed statement at the time.
Telenet and BIPT declined to comment on how the cableco worked around these regulatory issues, but the latter stated that its council had “established the admissibility of the application”.
The auction was originally planned for late 2010, but was placed on the backburner to allow political parties to negotiate the terms of a coalition following Belgium’s inconclusive June 2009 elections.
Current 3G licence holders operating in the country are incumbent Belgacom’s unit Proximus, France Telecom’s Mobistar and Dutch KPN’s Base.
