The National Communications Commission (NCC) is to start taking applications on Wednesday next week from telecoms interested in the third auction for frequency blocks to be used in 4G services.
The companies have until Sept. 1 to file an application, commission spokesman Weng Po-tsung (翁柏宗) said.
A list of qualified bidders is to be announced on Oct. 18 and the auction would begin at the end of the month, he said.
The commission expects the auction to run until the middle of November, and the winners are to be announced in the middle of December, Weng said.
The blocks that are to be put on auction are in the 1,800 megahertz (MHz) and 2,100MHz frequency bands, commission specialist Chen Wen-liang (陳玟良) said.
Six blocks would be put up for auction in the former band, including upstream and downstream frequencies, while 24 blocks would be put up for auction in the latter band, Chen said.
Each frequency block contains a bandwith of 5MHz, which means a total of 150MHz is up for auction, he said.
The 2,100MHz band is being used to provide 3G services, whose license is to expire on Dec. 31 next year.
The 1,800MHz frequency band is used by 4G and 2G services.
Chen said the auction would be held in two stages.
In the first stage, bidders will determine the number of blocks they want through a multi-round auction; they will then negotiate for the specific blocks they want during the second stage, he said.
Should any of the bidders fail to obtain the block it wants through negotiation, it could choose to enter another round of auctions with the other bidders, Chen said.
Rules of the auction are stipulated to help bidders secure contiguous bandwidths and avoid disputes that might lead to lawsuits, he said.
No single carrier can obtain more than four blocks either upstream or downstream of the 2,100MHz frequency band, Chen said.
The rules were set after the commission took into account the long-term evolution technology that is used to offer 4G services.
A carrier can obtain no more than 10 blocks in the 1,800MHz and 2,100MHz frequency bands, Chen added.
One of the auction’s main goals is to raise the quality of broadband infrastructure in remote areas, the commission said.
It has amended the regulations to require telecoms to finish constructing base stations in the remote areas as listed in their business plans before they will be allowed to swap frequency blocks with other firms.
Industry experts estimate that the government could raise NT$70 billion (US$2.29 billion) through the third auction.
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