Hungary’s telecoms regulator the National Communications Authority (NHH) yesterday extended the deadline for submitting bids in a tender to allow new mobile operators to enter the local market, Portfolio.hu reports; the new deadline has been pushed back by eight days to 28 November. The NHH hopes up to two new mobile operators could enter the Hungarian market and be awarded frequency use authorisations for a period 15 years. It said a dozen companies have purchased the tender documentations so far, although it stopped short of giving names.
The licences on offer – for which the country’s three incumbent operators have been barred from bidding – are for 15-years with the possibility of a seven-and-a-half year extension, local press reports. The NHH is auctioning two different mobile operators licences: the first in the GSM/DCS/UMTS frequency bands (900MHz, 1800Mhz, 2100MHz) used by the existing operators and the second in the 450MHz band, which is not currently utilised in Hungary. In addition, the regulator is looking to place five licences for wireless services in the 26GHz band in a bid to drive broadband access across the country. ‘This range could play a crucial role in the development of the internal infrastructure of mobile operators and other market players as well as large corporations for example; furthermore, it could contribute to expanding current levels of wireless broadband internet coverage in Hungary,’ the NHH has said.