No GSM joy for Netia Holdings
Just hours after securing a third-generation (3G) license, Netia Holdings said it might refuse it, as the firm missed out on the more lucrative GSM license.
The Telecommunications and Postal Regulatory Office (URTiP) last week announced that Netia had won the auction for a 3G license, edging out Hutchison Whampoa and Poland's incumbent operators, Polska Telefonia Cyfrowa, Polkomtel SA and Centertel, the mobile unit of Telekomunikacja Polska SA. At the same time URTiP rejected all the bids for the conventional GSM license tender, claiming none met the terms of the sale.
Hours after winning the 3G permit, Netia's CEO, Wojciech Madalski, said the company's plans are in doubt because it had expected to win a license for a global system for the GSM network as well.
"Our plan was to win in both tenders and the business plan has been prepared accordingly," Madalski said. "Now we face the question whether having one license makes business sense." If Netia does indeed pass up the license, second-placed Hutchinson will be awarded the frequency.
"[Hutchinson] also won a sufficient number of points and, if [Netia withdraws] it will be the winner," URTiP's president Witold Graboś said in an interview with TVN 24.
However, Graboś also left open the possibility that Netia could first exercise the option to buy the frequency, and then sell it to Hutchinson. He added that the lowering of the qualifying minimum or the division of the frequencies should now be taken into consideration.
Madalski said that it's possible to build a UMTS network without GSM, but Netia has already reapplied for the frequencies in a second tender, due within the next eight months. Netia estimates the investment needed for both networks would equal "hundreds of millions of euro," which the company, along with its tender partner Novator Telecom Poland, probably wouldn't be able to cover.
Experts expect the additional financing could come from a network equipment vendor. Madalski disclosed that Netia has a long list of potential suppliers that are also interested in financing the project.
However, independent telecom expert Tomasz Kulisiewicz says it's very possible that Netia might give up the license it won.
"Netia lacks a mobile operator in its group. However it's the GSM, not UMTS frequencies that it needs more," he said, adding that having the latter without the former is pointless for the company.
The Telecommunications and Postal Regulatory Office (URTiP) last week announced that Netia had won the auction for a 3G license, edging out Hutchison Whampoa and Poland's incumbent operators, Polska Telefonia Cyfrowa, Polkomtel SA and Centertel, the mobile unit of Telekomunikacja Polska SA. At the same time URTiP rejected all the bids for the conventional GSM license tender, claiming none met the terms of the sale.
Hours after winning the 3G permit, Netia's CEO, Wojciech Madalski, said the company's plans are in doubt because it had expected to win a license for a global system for the GSM network as well.
"Our plan was to win in both tenders and the business plan has been prepared accordingly," Madalski said. "Now we face the question whether having one license makes business sense." If Netia does indeed pass up the license, second-placed Hutchinson will be awarded the frequency.
"[Hutchinson] also won a sufficient number of points and, if [Netia withdraws] it will be the winner," URTiP's president Witold Graboś said in an interview with TVN 24.
However, Graboś also left open the possibility that Netia could first exercise the option to buy the frequency, and then sell it to Hutchinson. He added that the lowering of the qualifying minimum or the division of the frequencies should now be taken into consideration.
Madalski said that it's possible to build a UMTS network without GSM, but Netia has already reapplied for the frequencies in a second tender, due within the next eight months. Netia estimates the investment needed for both networks would equal "hundreds of millions of euro," which the company, along with its tender partner Novator Telecom Poland, probably wouldn't be able to cover.
Experts expect the additional financing could come from a network equipment vendor. Madalski disclosed that Netia has a long list of potential suppliers that are also interested in financing the project.
However, independent telecom expert Tomasz Kulisiewicz says it's very possible that Netia might give up the license it won.
"Netia lacks a mobile operator in its group. However it's the GSM, not UMTS frequencies that it needs more," he said, adding that having the latter without the former is pointless for the company.
