Singapore fibre start-up MyRepublic and Australian telco TPG Telecom have been given the nod to proceed to the auction phase of the upcoming race to become Singapore’s fourth mobile network operator (MNO). The Infocomm Media Development Authority of Singapore (IMDA) confirmed this week that the pair will enter into a head-to-head contest in the new entrant spectrum auction (NESA), to be held later this year, having decided that a third interested party – airYotta – failed to meet the full entry requirements.
MyRepublic and TPG will soon kick off bidding for rights to use 60MHz of spectrum from the 900MHz and 2300MHz bands; the reserve price has been set at SGD35 million (USD24.7 million). IMDA went on to confirm that upon completion of the NESA, it will proceed with the second stage – the general spectrum auction (GSA) – which will be open to the city-state’s incumbent MNOs – M1, Singtel and StarHub. The winner of the NESA can also participate in the GSA, if it chooses to do so. The regulator aims to start the GSA in the first quarter of 2017.