THE winners of the WiMAX spectrum tender will be announced as early as end of this month, but not later than end of February, Energy, Water and Communications Minister Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik said in Putrajaya yesterday. The official announcement will end months of speculation on which companies will be allocated the 2.3GHz spectrum. Dr Lim did not disclose how many WiMAX licences the Government plans to issue. It was reported in October that the ministry plans to award up to four WiMAX licences, possibly in two stages. ‘There will be three to four licences available, but I may roll out [issue] two licences first. It’s not necessary that I have to give out all four [at one time],’ Dr Lim said.
A total of 17 companies applied for the WiMAX spectrum, including Maxis Communications, Telekom Malaysia, DiGi.Com, REDtone International, MiTV Corp and NasionCom Holdings.