The national telco Telekom Slovenije and a Ljubljana-based telecommunications company Tok telekomunikacije have been awarded 10-year licences to provide broadband wireless Internet services, Slovenia's telecommunications watchdog said on Tuesday.
The other companies vying for the licence were Slovenia's Stelkom and Simobil, Austria's Wimax Telecom and US company Nexcom Telecommunications, the Agency for Post and Electronic Communications (APEK) said following the selection process.
The two selected bidders will have to cover the whole of Slovenia's territory with broadband wireless Internet services. They were awarded free radio frequencies for a fixed wireless access system.
The APEK says the licences were awarded in line with the government's strategy to introduce fixed wireless systems (FWS) in the 3410 MHz-to-3600 MHz frequency span throughout the country.
This means that the Internet will now become accessible to people in areas lacking the necessary infrastructure, especially in rural areas. Moreover, the agency expects this will give a further boost to competition in urban areas with well-developed infrastructure.
The invitation to tender put the lowest licence fee at SIT 40m (EUR 0.17m). The highest offer was made by Stelkom (SIT 140m/EUR 0.59m), followed by Telekom Slovenije (SIT 100m/EUR 0.42m) and Nexcom (SIT 76m/EUR 0.32m).
Tok telekomunikacije, which a report in Tuesday's edition of business daily Finance suggests is affiliated with Voljatel, a domestic Internet services provider, offered SIT 40m plus one tolar. Simobil and Wimax Telecom offered SIT 40m each.
According to the requirements of the tender, the bidders will have to reach at least 60% of the Slovenian population with FWS services within three years after being awarded the licence. Moreover, at least a third of access points will have to be in rural areas.
The bidders will also have to enable users to switch networks, hosting and inter-networking with other providers.
More articles from this issue:
Archive
|