The Prague daily HN newspaper says that bids for UMTS licenses, submitted on Friday by RadioMobil and Eurotel, might in theory be empty envelopes (the bids will be opened and evaluated by the regulator on December 7). The logic of such bids would be that this auction would be cancelled, and the UMTS licenses would have to be sold at a price lower than the CZK 3.5 bil. opening price in the current auction. D. Stadnik, head of the telecommunications regulatory office, seems to allow for this possibility. Though it remains unclear why the two operators would submit “empty” bids at all (Cesky Mobil, the smallest operator, did not submit any bid), it would be an interesting twist in the UMTS story, and would be good news for the telecom stocks, as the chances of cheaper UMTS licenses would be increased. This may add to the two telecom stocks’ current momentum.
(Ondrej Datka)