France Telecom still leads German auction

NEWS The second week of bidding for third generation German mobile phone licences began as the first had ended with France Telecom-backed Mobilcom leading the field. At the close of day six, total bids had reached DM18.5bn (£5.7bn) approaching the DM20bn (£6.2bn) figure initially set by the German government. However, observers say an overall figure of DM60bn (£18.5bn) is now more realistic. Mobilcom encountered stiff competition from Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobil yesterday. At the end of Monday's bidding, Mobilcom had offered DM4.75bn (£1.46bn) for three blocks of spectrum while T-Mobil had offered DM4.72bn (£1.45bn). Five other bidders - Vodafone-owned Mobilfunk; Hutchinson E-plus; BT-backed Viag Interkom; Swisscom-backed Debitel; and Group 3G, a combined Sonera and Telefonica venture, remain in the auction. Each company needs to secure at least two of the 12 spectrum blocks on offer. But with many of the leading contenders competing for three blocks overall, this could leave a big name player - such as BT, France Telecom or Hutschinson - out in the cold.