TIME and MiTV win 3G auction, DiGi misses out, papers say

Telco TIMEdotCom and pay-TV provider MiTV Corp have been declared winners of Malaysia’s 3G licence auction by the country’s Ministry for Energy, Water and Communications, according to local sources. The news contradicts reports yesterday that mobile operator DiGi Telecommunications and MiTV would be handed the concessions. In November 2005 the MCMC reported it had received applications for UMTS spectrum from all three companies. Communications minister Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik said in a statement that the successful applicants would be notified by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC). It is believed that the minister has recommended that the two winners make their spectrum available to DiGi to enable the losing bidder to launch 3G MVNO services. A confident DiGi had already signed a letter of intent with vendor Siemens to deploy its 3G network if it is successful in its application. Currently only Maxis Communications and Telekom Malaysia subsidiary Celcom hold 3G concessions.