Three Bidders for Italian 3G Radio Spectrum

Italy's Ministry of Economic Development has announced that three of the country's four incumbent operators have submitted bids for additional 3G radio spectrum. Telecom Italy, Vodafone and Wind have submitted bids, but Hutchison 3G Italy (3 Italia) chose not to, despite requesting tender documents.

The three bids will be opened on June 9th.

The radio spectrum being offered originally belonged to 3G license holder, Ipse 2000 which was forced to hand back its license in 2006 after failing to build its 3G network. Telefonica, the dominant shareholder had written off its investment back in 2002, along with its investment in Germany.

The reserve price for the blocks of radio spectrum has been set at EUR 88.7 million, compared to their auction value of around EUR 1 billion in the original 3G license auction in 2001.

On the web: Il Ministero delle Comunicazioni

Posted to the site on 5th June 2009