Newcomer wins nationwide GSM licence

Little known Georgian company GeoComInvest has won an auction for a nationwide GSM licence in the 1800MHz frequency band. Its winning bid was GEL17.8 million (USD10.1 million), of which 30% must be paid within a month and the rest settled within a year. The auction was held following a request from existing licensee, Mobitel, for the frequencies, although it did not itself submit a bid. Mobitel, a subsidiary of Russian cellco Vimpelcom, has yet to launch commercial operations in Georgia. The losing bidders were MagtiCom, the second placed cellco by subscribers, and newcomer Serviceline.