On Monday, ANCOM said new primary rounds to award mobile telephony licenses would be held Tuesday, as bids exceeded the number of available blocks in at least one band.
On Tuesday, bids no longer exceeded the number of available blocks in any of the four frequency bands, and the auction will continue with an additional round Friday, September 14, ANCOM said.
The mobile operators that submitted bids are 2K Telecom, Cosmote Romania, Orange Romania, RCS&RDS and Vodafone Romania.
ANCOM auctions off 42 mobile telephony licenses valid from April 6, 2014 until 2029: six in the 800 MHz band, seven in the 900 MHz band, 15 in the 1,800 MHz band and 14 in the 2,600 MHz band, as well as three unpaired 15 MHz blocks in the 2,600 MHz band.
The regulator also sells short-term licenses for ten paired 2.5 MHz blocks in the 900 MHz band, and six paired 5 MHz blocks in the 1,800 MHz band, which will be valid for 15 months. These bands are currently used by Orange and Vodafone.
For blocks awarded for 15 months, the starting prices are as follows: EUR1.7 million in the 900 MHz band and EUR0.8 million in the 1,800 MHz band. Block awarded for 15 years in the 800 MHz band will have a minimum price of EUR35 million, those in the 900 MHz band – EUR40 million, in the 1,800 MHz band – EUR10 million, paired blocks in the 2,600 MHz band – EUR4 million, unpaired blocks – EUR3 million.