Swedish telecoms regulator the PTS today announced Scandinavian wireless broadband operator iBand as the winner of a nationwide wireless operating licence in the 1900MHz-1905MHz frequency band, following a sealed bid auction first announced in January. iBand beat one other applicant, Celestine Hill Communications, with a bid of SEK190,100 (USD31,600), including an administration fee of SEK130,000. iBand’s new licence is service neutral, covering such applications as mobile phone or wireless broadband operations, and is technology neutral ‘with certain restrictions’, according to a statement from the PTS.
iBand obtained mobile broadband licences in Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands in 2005, and in September 2006 it launched commercial mobile broadband services based on iBurst technology in Oslo.