THE LARGEST mobile operator in Slovakia, Orange Slovensko, won the tender for operation of a frequency freed up by the armed forces, the Slovak Telecommunications Office (TÚ) announced on April 29, the SITA newswire wrote.
This dashed hopes that a fourth mobile operator would enter the Slovak market.
Price was the deciding factor for the bid. The TÚ announced the tender on March 31 and set a minimum price of Sk30 million (€0.93 million). Orange Slovensko offered Sk40 million (€1.2 million).
Telefónica O2 Slovakia came in second, but has kept its offering price secret. The TÚ excluded Irish Logic System from the tender, as it failed to comply with the terms, the regulator stated.
The tender was for a 20-year licence for nationwide broadcast on the 872-876 MHz/917-921 MHz frequencies.
Orange Slovensko plans to use the frequencies for broadening its portfolio of mobile data and broadband internet services, as they are unsuitable for full-fledged mobile telecommunications services.
The 872-876 MHz/917-921 MHz band is close to the GSM band used by traditional mobile service providers. According to the TÚ, a different technology, CDMA, is mostly used in the 870 MHz band.
