Government to launch 3G auction

The Czech Telecommunication Office (CTU) has announced plans to launch a tender for a third 3G licence in the country next year, giving interested parties until 22 December to comment on the proposal. The CTU says that two companies have already expressed an interest in running a trial of 3G technology – including the country’s newest mobile operator Oskar, which would be interested in obtaining the licence if the price was right – but has maintained that it can only award one more licence. The country’s two largest cellcos – Eurotel and T-Mobile – already own 3G concessions, having won them in 2001, paying USD321 million in total. Both plan to launch services in Prague at the start of 2006.