RadioMobil, the cellular operator in which Ceske radiokomunikace is a shareholder, yesterday said that it would not buy a Czech UMTS license unless the government reduces the fixed priced it is asking from CZK 5 bil. to CZK 3 bil. per license, and unless there are no conditions attached. According to the rules, if RadioMobil or any other existing operator do not buy the license for the asked CZK 5 bil., their license will fall through to a subsequent auction, in which the existing operators can also bid. There is a reasonable chance that the auction could produce prices below the fixed price of CZK 5 bil. asked by the government. The prospect of RadioMobil (and perhaps other operators) pursuing this strategy and possibly paying less than CZK 5 bil. for its licence may be seen as positive for CR’s stock, and possibly for Cesky Telecom’s stock too.
(Ondřej Daťka)