French mobile operators will bid for more 3G spectrum later this year when two lots of 5MHz spectrum go up for auction. According to Dow Jones Newswires, the deadline is set for May 11th and operators will have to pay a minimum of 120 million EUR for each of the lots.
If you remember, last year Iliad’s Free Mobile won a 3G license for 240 million. The company is in process of building the network to compete with three incumbent operators — Orange, SFR and Bouygues Telecom — all of which paid around 620 million EUR for a full 15MHz spectrum a few years ago.
Iliad is known as France’s most favorite ISP and its entrance in the mobile market could have a major impact. Mobile number portability (MNP) is live in the country since May of 2007, meaning people could easily switch networks while keeping their existing phone number — something Iliad is certainly counting on…
[Via: MobileBusinessBriefing]