Chilean 3G License Tenders Tied - Bids to Commence in 60 Days

Two bidders for Chile's 3G license auction have tied on the technical submissions and will now proceed to a closed bid tender within the next 60 days, the regulator has announced. Only two bidders emerged for the three available licenses,­ Chilean cable-television and broadband operator VTR and Nextel Chile.

The regulator is offering three lots of 30Mhz.

As both bidders tied on the technical submission, the regulator, Subtel will review the documents and then invite the companies to participate in the closed bid tender. It is expected that the licenses will be formally awarded by the end of the year, with services being launched in mid-2010.

A review of the spectrum limit was looked into in 2007 by country's antitrust regulator TDLC to 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 in the auction. The compromise allows them to bid, but to them dispose of any surplus 2G spectrum which takes them above the court mandated 60Mhz.

The country has three operators, and figures from the Mobile World notes that their respective market shares are: Telefonica Moviles (43.2%); Entel (37.7%) and Claro (18.9%). Nextel International also operates a network, with a negligible number of customers. The country itself ended last year with 15.9 million mobile phone subscribers, representing a population penetration level of 96.4%.

On the web: Subtel - Mobile World

Posted to the site on 21st July 2009