The Czech government yesterday decided that the Czech Telecommunications Office (CTO), the regulator, will submit by end of January 2001 detailed conditions for the Czech UMTS tender. In other words, the Cabinet did not choose any particular method (auction, etc.) yesterday. It nonetheless seems that the CTO will propose giving three UMTS licenses for a fixed fee to existing cellular operators and awarding a fourth one to a newcomer in an auction. The licenses should be awarded by September 30, 2000. We see such a solution as relatively favorable for the three incumbent operators (both Ceske radiokomunikace and Cesky Telecom have a cellular subsidiary). The fixed price that the incumbents would pay has not been decided, but the 2001 budget envisages CZK 20 bil. revenues from the UMTS licenses, implying some CZK 5 bil. (USD 125 mil.) for each license.
(Ondřej Daťka)