Press Release
Auction of Radio Spectrum in the 1800MHz Band for Expansion of Public Mobile Telecommunications Services Successfully Concluded
The Office of the Telecommunications Authority (OFTA) announced today (10 June 2009) that three mobile network operators have successfully bid for a total of 9.6 MHz of radio spectrum in the 1800 MHz frequency band at a total of upfront spectrum utilization fee of HK$ 46.1 million.
"The demand for public mobile telecommunications services has been growing continuously. The number of mobile users has reached 11.58 million by March 2009, representing a penetration rate of 165%. The assignment of the radio spectrum through the auction enables the successful mobile network operators to expand their network capacity to meet the increasing demand," a spokesperson of OFTA said.
Three incumbent mobile network operators took part in the spectrum auction.Conducted on an Internet-based software platform, the auction commenced on 8 June 2009 and was completed today after a total of 27 bidding rounds over three days.The provisional successful bidders, the radio spectrum bid and the upfront spectrum utilization fee (SUF) determined in the auction are tabulated below:
Provisional Successful Bidder |
Radio Spectrum Bid |
Upfront SUF (HK$M) |
China Mobile Hong Kong Company Limited |
3.2 MHz
(1782.5 - 1784.1 MHz paired with 1877.5 - 1879.1 MHz) |
15.12 |
Hong Kong Telecommunications (HKT) Limited |
3.2 MHz
(1780.1 - 1781.7 MHz paired with 1875.1 – 1876.7 MHz) |
16.44 |
SmarTone Mobile Communications Limited |
3.2 MHz
(1781.7 - 1782.5 MHz paired with 1876.7 - 1877.5 MHz and 1784.1 - 1784.9 MHz paired with 1879.1 - 1879.9 MHz) |
14.54 |
Total |
9.6 MHz |
46.10 |
Apart from the upfront SUF, the provisional successful bidders are required to pay an annual SUF (for the period from 30 September 2009 to 29 September 2011, HK$232,000 for each frequency band per year; and for the period from 30 September 2011 to 29 September 2021, HK$2.32 million for each frequency band per year or 5% of the network turnover in the year concerned, whichever is the higher).
"The Telecommunications Authority will amend the existing carrier licences of the relevant mobile network operators to incorporate the newly assigned spectrum after receipt of the upfront SUF from them," the spokesperson of OFTA added.
Office of the Telecommunications Authority
10 June 2009
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