Polkomtel backs out from LTE bidding

Polkomtel (Plus) has decided to withdraw from active bidding in the LTE internet auction, the company informed in a press release. The firm is convinced that the auction may disturb competitiveness and create imbalance in the market. "The current situation could lead to scenarios which are disadvantageous for both the market and the clients. One of them is a situation where Orange and T-Mobile will each buy 10 MHz bands and create a 20 MHz network. The remaining operators with only 10 MHz will have no way of competing with a network offering data transfer at twice the speed," the company stated. Polkomtel hopes that by withdrawing from bidding it will allow for the establishing of one or two comparable LTE networks. The LTE internet auction has been launched on February 10. The bidders list included Orange Polska, P4 (Play), T-Mobile Polska, Hubb Investments, Polkomtel (Plus) and NetMet and the starting price was PLN 1.6 billion. Long Term Evolution (4G LTE)  is a standard for wireless communication of high-speed data for mobile phones and data terminals.