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Bulgaria: Single Bidder for Mobile License Print E-mail
Monday, 14 July 2008
The tender for Bulgaria's fourth mobile license, scheduled for July 29 by the Communications Regulation Commission (CRC), will not take place since only one company submitted an offer.

Eight groups purchased the tender documents, but only Telco AG, a Liechtenstein-based company with VoIP and MVNO licenses, submitted an offer before the July 11 deadline.

Most of the interested bidders believed that the reserve price set by the CRC was too high. The CRC set the starting bid at about US$ 31 million. Network development costs were estimated at US$ 65 million to 82 million.

Local operator Max Telecom’s CEO Krasimir Stoichev said that the 20 year license period was excessive because the typical lifespan of communications technology is not usually that long. Stoichev said that additional reasons for not bidding included the unclear pricing methodology used by the CRC, combined with a reserve price twice what was paid for the mobile license issued to second mobile operator Globul and six times what was paid by third mobile operator Vivatel.

The CRC will assemble an advisory committee to assess the application submitted by Telco AG. If the application meets the tender criteria, the company will be invited to pay the licensing fee.

Source: Sofia Echo - WDR/Intelecon Regulatory News.