Singapore’s IDA has released details of its controversial 3G sell-off, offering three lots of paired spectrum in a November auction.
The auction is opposed by the existing mobile operators, who need more spectrum but believe the auction process is too expensive.
SingTel has called for each of the three carriers to be issued a single lot of spectrum by administrative allocation, rather than forcing them to go through an auction.
However, the IDA said that disposing of the frequencies cheaply “would provide the wrong incentives” for use of scarce spectrum.
It will start the auction on November 15, with a reserve price of S$20 million ($14.9m) for each spectrum lot. Bidders will be required to file a $20 million bank guarantee.
Winners will be granted access to the radio real estate for ten years and will be required to deploy networks using it within 12 months.
The frequencies will be sold in three paired lots. Lot A is 1964.9-1969.9 and 2154.9-2159.9 MHz; Lot B is 1969.9-1974.9 and 2159.9-2164.9 MHz; Lot C is 1974.9-1979.7 and 2164.9-2169.7 MHz.
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