UMTS tender called off; licences awarded to local players

The Telecoms Ministry, facing potential lawsuits for changing the rules of the disappointing UMTS tender just days before its conclusion, said Wednesday it had cancelled the procedure and would instead award 3G licenses to each of the three local incumbents, Polska Telefonia Cyfrowa, Polkomtel and Centertel. The ministry's spokesman Przemyslaw Sypniewski said it would hold another auction for a fourth permit, but declined to give further details. According to unofficial sources, it would probably be reached through another tender, but under current telecoms law this can happen no sooner than 1 January 2002. Sypniewski said the three GSM operators would receive the new permits through an extension of their existing GSM permits, paying euro650 million each, the amount the government originally sought in the tender. According to sector analysts, the Ministry made the decision to call off the tender after little interest was shown by larger international telcos. The three recipients of the licenses will be able to launch UMTS services in 2003. (Reuters, Puls Biznesu p.4)