Govt: Movistar Excess Spectrum Ready for Auction by 2Q07

Peru's investment promotion agency ProInversión expects mobile operator Movistar to have freed its 800Mhz spectrum for auction by 2Q07, ProInversión said in a statement.

Once Movistar Perú clients have been migrated to its 1,900Mhz band, the 20-year concession can then be auctioned by the agency, local radio station CPN Radio quoted ProInversión executive director René Cornejo as saying.

Peru's ministry of transport and communications MTC approved in September the auctioning of the concession, formerly held by US telco BellSouth, in an effort to increase competition.

The government reclaimed the license for the 800Mhz spectrum (Band B) as part of its approval of the 2005 merger between Movistar and Comunicaciones Móviles, which Movistar's Spanish parent company Telefónica bought from BellSouth in 2004.

The MTC prohibits any mobile operator from having space in both the A and B bands and from possessing more than 25MHz in the 800MHz band.

Previous press reports and analyst statements have indicated that trunking operator Nextel Perú would be a prime candidate to pick up the spectrum."

Posted to the site on 15th January 2007