Hungary’s T-Mobile, the mobile arm of national PTO Magyar Telekom, has renewed its mobile concession contract with the Ministry of Economy and Transport. The concession covers rights to use the 900MHz frequency which were due to expire on 4 November 2008. T-Mobile has reportedly paid HUF10 billion (USD58 million) to extend its licence for seven and a half years. It has also agreed to spend at least HUF20 billion between now and 2009 on further increasing mobile broadband coverage in the country.
In a related story, T-Mobile rival Pannon has also extended its GSM-900 licence for a similar term and fee. Pannon signed a 15-year concession agreement with the Ministry in 1993; it has also agreed to spend HUF20 billion on developing its 3G/HSDPA network over the next two years.