Far EasTone Telecommunications Co Ltd (遠傳電信) yesterday called on the government to tighten bidding rules for the next round of 4G bandwidth auctions in October to maintain fair competition.
“We hope the National Communications Commission [NCC] can set strict qualification criteria for bidders,” Far EasTone president Yvonne Li (李彬) said. “Otherwise, bandwidth, which is rare asset, would be easily acquired and controlled by a few companies. Market competition would thereby be hampered.”
The company said that the commission should forbid interested companies and their strategic partners — especially via equity investment — to enter separate 4G bids.
The company’s remarks aim to thwart Asia Pacific Telecom (亞太電信), Ambit Microsystems Corp (國碁電子) and Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大) from deepening their current partnership in bidding for the upcoming auction of the 2,600-megahertz (MHz) bandwidth.
Taiwan Mobile last year announced a strategic partnership with Ambit via a share swap and bought 5MHz bandwidth from Ambit, while Ambit is set to launch its 4G services today and plans to complete its merger with Asia Pacific at the end of this year.
“If these three companies join the 4G auction separately, it is no different from rigging the bid. This violates fair trade regulations,” Li said.
Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) and Taiwan Star Cellular Corp (台灣之星) yesterday echoed Far EasTone. “Our stance is very firm. These three companies should be banned from bidding for 4G bandwidth individually,” Chunghwa president Shih Mu-piao (石木標) said by telephone.
“Bandwidth is a public asset and should not be controlled by any single group,” Taiwan Star said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Far EasTone said the NCC should take quick action to stop Taiwan Mobile from offering “roaming’ services on its 4G network for Asia Pacific’s 4G subscribers.
“Asia Pacific should build its own 4G network, rather than leasing 4G network from Taiwan Mobile, which is illegal,” Li said.
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