Bids reach E40bn in German mobile licence auction

NEWS Bidding in the German 3G wireless licence auction reached nearly E40bn (£24.22bn) late last night, going beyond the E38.5bn (£23.3bn) total raised for five UK licences last April. Six companies are still in the race after 138 rounds of bidding, with some reports claiming that the final total could go as high as E55bn (£33.3bn). Those left in are Deutsche Telekom, E-Plus (backed by Hutchison Whampoa and KPN), Group 3G (a consortium which includes Telefonica and Sonera), Mobilcom (backed by France Telecom), Mobilfunk (backed by Vodafone-Mannesmann), and Viag Interkom (backed by BT, E.On and Telenor). The auction could lead to between four and six licences being awarded. Those participating have to secure two or three of 12 bandwidth blocks being sold off. However, operators are only assured of full national coverage if they gain three blocks.