By Veronika Gulyas
BUDAPEST--Hungary's telecommunication regulator NMHH will
publish the tender announcement for broadband spectrum licenses at
the end of April, it said Tuesday.
The authority originally planned to publish the tender at the
end of last year but decided to negotiate the tender conditions
with the participants of the sector, the authority told The Wall
Street Journal in an e-mailed response.
NMHH has so far only published a draft tender to sell various
broadband spectrum licenses, in a bid to boost competition on the
telecommunications market and help development.
The authority is also considering extending the broadband
spectrum licenses to 20 years compared with the 15 years planned
earlier.
Hungary plans to offer the unused parts of the 800, 900, 1,000
and 2,600 Megahertz frequencies as well as the unused part of the
26 MHz frequency.
The sale of the licenses may help increase competition,
accelerate the development of broadband coverage, the spread of
modern wireless services, and lead to competitive consumer prices,
the NMHH said.
Last September Hungary already extended the mobile frequency
contracts of the three telecom providers active in Hungary until
April 2022. The three mobile phone companies operating in Hungary
are Norway's Telenor ASA (TEL.OS), the U.K.'s Vodafone Group PLC
(VOD), and Magyar Telekom Nyrt. (MTELEKOM.BU), which is
majority-owned by Germany's Deutsche Telekom AG (DTE.XE).
The authority has 45 to 150 days to announce the winner after
the tender is called.
Write to Veronika Gulyas at veronika.gulyas@wsj.com