UMTS licenses

Deputy Transport and Communications Minister Guerlichova confirmed that the Cabinet is to take a decision on how to allocate Czech UMTS licenses by end of September. Four licenses should be awarded, according to the ministry’s proposal. It seems that the Cabinet now favors an auction (rather than a beauty contest or a direct allocation) given the need to find sources of revenues for next year’s state budget. The Ministry of Transport will inform Cabinet of the expected proceeds from the UMTS licenses at the next Cabinet meeting (likely September 6). The UMTS tender is preliminarily scheduled for 2001, and the licenses should be effective 2002. The three cellular operators in the Czech Republic are EuroTel (51% owned by Cesky Telecom), RadioMobil (51% owned by Ceske radiokomunikace, though the latter will be diluted to 39%), and Cesky Mobil (controlled by TIW).

(Ondřej Daťka)