Activity far from frenzied in German UMTS bidding

NEWS The second day of bidding for Germany's UMTS licences progressed slowly with candidates only offering $1.3bn by early afternoon. The first day had also progressed slowly with bids only reaching $1.1bn with candidates cautious against about not paying the same high amounts as seen in the UK. Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobil is currently leading the bidding followed by Vodafone. Other bidders still in the running include BT, France Telecom and Holland's KPN. However, Group 3G which consists of Telefonica and Sonera, has dropped out while German based Debitel and Swisscom are also expected to stop their joint bid and join forces with France Telecom.