Fiji's government will this month conduct the nation's first-ever spectrum auction, an allocation of LTE spectrum.
The auction will be held between June 24 and June 28, Fijian Attorney-General and Minister for Communications Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum revealed in a statement.
In a bid to increase competition in the mobile market beyond the two current operators – Vodafone Fiji and Digicel - the government will make the auction available to all interested players. This means domestic and foreign telecom and non-telecom companies will be able to participate.
“The auction – for 4G LTE Spectrum – will promote competition, attract foreign investors, and eliminate the kind of corruption that is seen the world over when it comes to spectrum allocation,” Sayed-Khaiyum said.
He expects LTE to be instrumental in improving mobile coverage to 100% of Fiji, up from 95% at present.
To prevent companies from acquiring for spectrum the purpose of speculation, profiteering or preventing competition, winning bidders will be given a deadline to launch LTE services.