[LINK] 3G licences go under the hammer

[Tony Barry]

Linkers

Anybody like to take a punt at how much this will make? Presumably 
they will make the reserve price? After all it is in Australian 
dollars :-[ Perhaps we should change the name of the currency to 
razoos?

Tony
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Extracted item for information.

Source: ABC News
Thursday March 15, 2001


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*3G licences go under the hammer*

The online auction of spectrum licences to run the next generation
of mobile voice and data services begins today.

But the so-called "3G" auction could become a new revenue woe for
the Federal Government.

The Australian Communications Authority has set the aggregate
reserve price for the licences at nearly $1.1 billion.

But it is a long way off the $2.6 the Government was hoping to get
from spectrum sales this financial year.

The authority's John Grant says the reserve seems to be acceptable
to the seven bidders which including, Telstra, Optus, Vodaphone and
AAPT.

"In any auction one could expect to see the reserve set at a fairly
modest level and certainly the carriers indicate that that's what
we've done on this occasion," he said.

If spirited bidding sees the reserve exceeded, the question will be
by how much, but if the reserve is not achieved, the licences will
be passed in, leaving the Government's estimate well short this
financial year.

The Opposition's Communications spokesman, Stephen Smith, says the
Government's last Budget surplus was based on selling the spectrum
for much more than the actual reserve.

"The process is about to start. There's no market expectation that
the number that the Government predicated its surplus on, which was
$2.6 billion, there's no market expectation that that amount will
be met," he said.

"But we'll now just have to wait and see whether the market
expectation of anywhere between $1 billion and $1.5 billion is
realised."
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