Hong Kong's Office of the Telecommunications Authority announced that three mobile network operators have successfully bid for a total of 9.6 MHz of radio spectrum in the 1800 MHz frequency band at a total of upfront spectrum utilization fee of HKD46.1 million.
Three incumbent mobile network operators took part in the spectrum auction. Conducted on an Internet-based software platform, the auction commenced on June 8, 2009, and was completed on June 10 after a total of 27 bidding rounds over three days.
The provisional successful bidders, the radio spectrum bid and the upfront spectrum utilization fee determined in the auction are China Mobile Hong Kong Company Limited paying HKD15.12 million for 1782.5 – 1784.1 MHz paired with 1877.5 – 1879.1 MHz; Hong Kong Telecommunications (HKT) Limited paying HKD16.44 million for 1780.1 – 1781.7 MHz paired with 1875.1 – 1876.7 MHz; and SmarTone Mobile Communications Limited paying HKD14.54 million for 1781.7 – 1782.5 MHz paired with 1876.7 – 1877.5 MHz and 1784.1 – 1784.9 MHz paired with 1879.1 – 1879.9 MHz.
"The demand for public mobile telecommunications services has been growing continuously. The number of mobile users has reached 11.58 million by March 2009, representing a penetration rate of 165%. The assignment of the radio spectrum through the auction enables the successful mobile network operators to expand their network capacity to meet the increasing demand," a spokesperson of OFTA stated in a press release.