Network World

India auctions off licenses for 3 WiMax spectra

on October 3, 2009   |   1 comment



India-Wimax-Auction-2009
According to Network World, the Indian government plans to auction off three WiMax spectrum licenses in the country in December. 10 days before the WiMax auction, the government will be completing the issue of three 3G licenses. The bid for the 3G spectrum starts at $716 million per operator and at $360 million for the WiMax spectrum.

The licensing of 3G mobile-phone services and fixed wireless broadband (IEEE 802.16d WiMax standard) services will make India about $5.1 billion, India’s IT/ Telecommunications Minister, Andimuthu Raja said. “Since the number of slots are only four, the auction price will be more,” Raja stated and he has a good point. Given that the auctions are open to foreign companies, there will likely be intense competition to win the licenses among the local operators and foreign giants such as NTT DoCoMo, AT&T and Deutsche Telekom, skyrocketing the prices into the billions.

The Indian government already handed out 3G licenses to the state-owned service providers Bharat Sanchar Nigam and Mahanager Telephone Nigam, in early 2009. India is the second largest wireless market worldwide with 415.25 million current subscribers according to figures from c. Nevertheless,  most of it comes from mobile voice and SMS function rather than from wireless Internet access.

The WiMax Forum predicts that India will comprise 20% of the WiMax market (or 19 million subscribers) in 2012. The Economic Times of India reported that a study by US market research firm Strategy Analytics believes India will become the largest WiMax user base in the Asia-Pacific by 2013, reaching 14 million by 2013 and growing annually at 130%. With these forecasts, the future looks bright for the four companies that will win the WiMax spectrum. Taking into consideration a population of one billion, it may be one of the greatest ROI currently offered in the global market.… Read the rest

Interview with Michael Deboer from SpecEx, the “Ebay of Spectrum”

on January 7, 2009  



specex

Can you briefly introduce yourself and your company ?

Sure. My name is Michael DeBoer, a Marketing Manager for a company called Spectrum Bridge. What we’ve done is develop an online marketplace which brings together buyers and sellers of licensed spectrum and generally leverages the advantages of the secondary spectrum market.

Can you tell us how the spectrum market is organized between the primary and secondary Market ?

The markets could be compared to the real estate industry. In order to make a purchase on the primary market, you’d have to buy a new home from a builder or developer. If you then sold the house a few years down the road, you’d be selling it on the secondary market, and the person buying your house would be buying on the secondary market. In the spectrum business, the primary market is the one we are most familiar hearing about; 700 MHz, AWS-3, cellular and PCS auctions: i.e. getting spectrum directly from the FCC [ Federal Communications Commission ].

The secondary market is where, to me, the more exciting moving and shaking takes place. It was solidified in 2003 when the FCC adopted new regulations which allow spectrum to be bought, sold or leased to third-parties. It was called the Secondary Market Initiative. On top of opening up a new market for reselling spectrum assets, the new rules also opened up the possibility for a company like ours to exist.

A secondary market transaction would be defined as one in which the license transferred or leased was not acquired directly from the FCC, rather it was acquired from a current holder. That being said, the secondary market is what ensures businesses can still get spectrum they need, even without forking over billions of dollars to win spectrum in a major FCC auction.

And how Spectrum Bridge is adding value into it ?

What we’ve created is a marketplace called SpecEx as a resource where people can find out what frequencies are available on the secondary market; basically leveraging the FCC rules to establish a viable and beneficial market for everyone.  We make it easy to market your excess spectrum or find spectrum for sale with a few clicks of your mouse.  It’s a lot like how the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) works for houses.

Let’s say you’re a utility company or government agency who would like to buy some … Read the rest


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