Subtel Consults TDLC on 3G Mobile Auctions

Chilean telecoms regulator Subtel has asked the country's antitrust regulator TDLC to determine whether existing mobile concession holders should be restricted from participating in upcoming auctions for mobile spectrum, according to TDLC's website.

Movistar Chile, of Spain's Telefónica, leads the market with 46%, Entel PCS has 37.3%, while Claro Chile, of Mexico's América Móvil, has 16.7%.

Subtel plans first to auction spectrum in the 1.71-1.755GHz and 2.11-2.155GHz bands and also reserve spectrum in the 1.755-1.77GHz and 2.155-2.17GHz for a future auction.

The watchdog must address the limit of 60Mhz established after Movistar acquired the assets of then Bellsouth because Movistar and Entel are already at the established limit and therefore could not compete, Francisco Errandonea, an analyst with Santander Investment, told BNamericas.

"Two of the three operators would not be able to participate which would therefore be a problem for the regulator," Errandonea said.

Moreover the analyst considers it highly unlikely that Subtel would be able to auction new spectrum to a new player and that the move is to clarify legal uncertainties before the start of the auction.

Subtel also asked for guidance on whether the three mobile companies would be able to bid for licenses in future auctions for bandwidth in the 800MHz and 1.9GHz bands.

Entel currently is the only operator to offer 3G mobile broadband services in the capital Santiago using an UMTS network. Movistar offers some multimedia services over a GSM/GPRS Edge network."

Posted to the site on 6th June 2007