Vector wades in on 4G spectrum, opposes letting telcos buy more

Vector opposes antitrust approval being given to dominant mobile phone operators Telecom and Vodafone New Zealand to buy more radio spectrum set aside for fourth-generation mobile technology, saying it would lock out other potential users in the future.

The Auckland-based electricity, gas and telecommunications lines company says the Commerce Commission should extend its brief in deciding whether to clear Vodafone and Telecom to buy a fourth lot of the 700 megahertz spectrum.

The regulator needs to consider a broader range of users in markets beyond simply telecommunications, Vector says, citing convergence between telecommunications and sectors such as broadcasting, energy, agriculture, finance, retail, health and emergency service applications.

If the regulator doesn't look beyond cellular operators, it could effectively lock-in the spectrum for almost two decades, Vector regulatory affairs manager Bruce Girdword said in the company's submission on the clearance applications.

"Imposing limits on the further concentration of spectrum holdings will help ensure that parties who wish to deploy similar or other services would not be prevented from doing so at a future date, or when it makes sense for them to do so operationally, due to the unavailability or prohibitive price of spectrum," Girdword said.

The regulator is considering applications by the two telecommunications operators to buy a fourth lot of the spectrum if it became available. Both Telecom and Vodafone bought three lots in the government's auction, while Two Degrees Mobile bought two lots. The government is mulling whether to re-tender the remaining spectrum, or shelve for allocation at a later date.

The spectrum became available when the government decided to switch-off analogue television services, freeing up the radio waves for use on 4G mobile networks.

The Electricity Networks Association, a lobby group for electricity distribution companies, said in a separate submission that the regulator should view the wider value of the spectrum to other infrastructure providers, to ensure communications channels in the event of a civil emergency, and to reserve space for smart network development.

The Radio Network, whose stable of stations include NewstalkZB, ZM and Radio Hauraki, said it wanted the regulator to be aware of potential interference on its broadcast transmitters if best engineering practices aren't adhered to.

source:http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/vector-wades-4g-spectrum-opposes-letting-telcos-buy-more-bd-148520

Govt plans to auction off remaining 4G spectrum

The Government plans to auction off the remaining block of radio spectrum to be used by mobile companies to carry faster 4G internet traffic, despite protests from 2degrees.

Communications and Information Technology Minister Amy Adams announced today that the Government intends to auction the remaining 2x5 MHz block of 700 MHz radio spectrum.

Last month Telecom and Vodafone each successfully bid for three lots of this spectrum for $66 million, while 2degrees bid for two lots for $44 million, - leaving one block unsold.

This spectrum, freed up from the switchover of television broadcasting from analogue to digital, will be used to carry much faster 4G mobile internet services.

The Government raised $176 million from the original auction.

Adams said the Government intends to auction off this remaining block of spectrum with a reserve price of $22 million later this month and that Telecom, Vodafone and 2degrees are eligible to participate.

This follows 2degrees' call last month to leave the unallocated spectrum on the shelf, rather than "damage long term competition by selling the unsold spectrum to Telecom or Vodafone."

"Spectrum is the motorway for mobile operators, and in the next few years that motorway will be built on 1800MHz spectrum, which all mobile operators already own. There are no mobile devices or networks using 700MHz that can be deployed in New Zealand right now, so there's no pressing consumer need to sell the remaining portion of that band," 2degrees chief executive Stewart Sherriff said at the time

Telecommunications User Association chief executive Paul Brislen also said the remaining blocks should not be sold:

"It should be left on the shelf for now, there's no real benefit but a lot of downside," Brislen said this afternoon.

"The downsides are that Vodafone and Telecom now are going to enter a bidding war for this chunk of spectrum, it will ratchet up the overall price and this is money that is better spent on the network itself rather than on a piece of paper which says 'congratulations you have permission to build a network'. That's the first problem, the second is that it leaves 2degrees in a very difficult position because they don't have enough spectrum to be able to compete on a level playing field if you like with the other two," Brislen said.

2degrees founder Tex Edwards told the Herald the Government was repeating mistakes of the 1990s "ensuring an operator can maintain dominance perpetually".
"It's a disgrace. Kiwi consumers deserve better policy," he said.

Telecom and Vodafone have both applied to the Commerce Commission for permission to purchase four lots rather than three lots of the spectrum and Adams said today that final settlement of the auction would not be completed until the regulator gives the go ahead.

If they are successful they will be required to meet extra conditions:

"Under the auction terms, bidders who acquire three lots of radio spectrum must build at least five new cell sites each year, for five years. However, for any bidders who win four lots, the requirement increases to ten new cell sites each year for five years. The auction conditions are designed to ensure that at least 90 per cent of New Zealanders have access to a 4G network and faster mobile broadband coverage within five years," Adams said today

source: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11159564

Regulator urged to block 4G spectrum sale to Vodafone, Telecom in 2degrees sponsored report

The Commerce Commission has been urged not to sign off on the country's dominant mobile phone operators buying the remaining 700 megahertz radio spectrum for fear of undermining burgeoning competition in the market.

A Covec report, commissioned by new entrant Two Degrees Mobile, claims competition among mobile carriers would be "substantially enhanced" if the antitrust regulator declines clearance for Vodafone New Zealand and Telecom Corp to buy the unsold pair of 5MHz spectrum blocks. The spectrum became available when the government decided to switch-off analogue television services, freeing up the radio waves for use on 4G mobile networks.

If the dominant mobile carriers are cleared to buy the spectrum, the Covec report warns 2degrees will face higher capital costs of the long-run, reducing its incentive to compete aggressively for retail and wholesale customers, particularly for those clients generating high data volumes.

"The retail market concern is the most pronounced in the on-account market segments, which have not yet been fully disrupted, where data traffic is relatively more important, and where 700 MHz spectrum is therefore of greater value," the report said.

Approval would also crowd out 2degrees' ability to offer the same quality of service as Vodafone and Telecom, and hinder incentives for effective spectrum-sharing and national roaming services.

"Each of these is a serious issue in a market, and a group of affected markets is jointly important for mobile sector competition," the report said. "Collectively, they seem likely to pose a material risk to the intensity of competition, especially since the sector is currently transitioning out of a duopoly structure, but we do not yet have three similar-strength networks."

The submission, published on the regulator's website, comes ahead of the Dec. 6 due date for the commission's decision, and as Vodafone and Telecom bid for the remaining blocks at auction. In the first round of the auction last month, Telecom and Vodafone each bought three blocks each (2x15 MHz) and 2degrees two blocks (2x10MHz).

The Covec report said the opportunity cost of leaving the unsold spectrum unallocated is very low as it won't be needed in the foreseeable future. That means declining clearance now doesn't extinguish the prospect of allocating the spectrum to Vodafone or Telecom at a later date.

source: http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/regulator-urged-block-4g-spectrum-sale-vodafone-telecom-2degrees-sponsored-report-bd-149516

Pakistan might remain the only country in South Asia without 3G for a while longer

India has 4G wireless service in a handful of cities, Afghanistan has 3G nationwide, Bangladesh is rolling out a nationwide 3G network, and even Nepal has 3G in major cities. That leaves Pakistan as the only country in South Asia without a high-speed mobile network. The country’s notoriously activist supreme court is trying to force the government into holding the spectrum auction needed to launch 3G services in early 2014—but the country’s equally notorious bureaucracy looks likely to delay things.

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Pakistan, with a population of 180 million and 125 million mobile subscriptions, has come close to holding the spectrum auction several times over the last five years. Each time proceedings have been delayed on a technicality.

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Warn-torn Afghanistan managed to avoid such a quagmire by simply not holding an auction—it simply distributed spectrum licenses to the providers. The government argued that the economic boost from acquiring 3G was more valuable than the one-off windfall from an auction that could become marred in controversy.

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Bangladesh gave a 3G license to the state-owned mobile provider, Teletalk, in 2012, and held an auction for the other mobile operators in September 2013. BTRC, Bangladesh’s telecom regulator, has been applauded for not allowing the government’s fiscal concerns to hijack the agenda and set the reserve price for the auction too high—the mistake made in India.

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But the Pakistan Telecoms Authority (PTA), the regulator, has been without a chief since the last time a spectrum auction was scheduled, in 2012. Plans came to a halt when the PTA said the telecoms operators and other interested bidders had failed to submit an expression of interest in time. The mobile operators, who have been long dogged by fickle government policies and strong competition, said they were never invited to bid.

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The then-chairman of the PTA lost his job over the incident. His nominated successor was challenged by the opposition parties last October, and the two other members of PTA’s committee retired at the start of this year, effectively leaving the telecoms industry in a state of anarchy. Now a public-interest case currently in the supreme court has pushed the government into some semblance of action. It finally appointed an acting chairman and new PTA members early last month to oversee the auction, and set a February 2014 deadline for holding it.

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However, more delays are possible. The government has now put out an advertisement for an international consultant to help with the auction. Case lawyer Ali Raza says that’s an unnecessary delaying tactic; he argues that everything is ready to go, and that the auction needs to happen quickly to avoid special interests marring the process. The next likely stumbling block is where the money from the auction will actually go. The finance ministry wants it to flow directly into the exchequer—a windfall that was somewhat prematurely written into the 2013-14 budget, announced in June. However, by law the money is meant to go to a universal service fund, set up as part of the 1996 telecoms policy (pdf) to make sure remote areas of Pakistan get telecoms service. The wrangle over that could occupy the courts for a good while.

source: http://qz.com/142923/pakistan-might-remain-the-only-country-in-south-asia-without-3g-for-a-while-longer/

BTRC won’t allow WiMax firms to give voice services

WiMax operators that have received the long-term evolution (LTE) licences will not be able to provide exclusive voice services like mobile operators, the telecom regulator said yesterday.
The WiMax operators working with broadband wireless access (BWA) are responsible for data services, not voice, said Sunil Kanti Bose, chairman of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission.
“The BWA and cellular licences are meant for different services and have different courses of action,” he said.
The WiMax operators are allowed to offer their services through laptops or personal computers, not through mobiles, he said.
But if they set up LTE equipment, they will be able to offer internet protocol calls such as Skype or Viber with the mobility facility, he added.
Recently, the government amended the BWA licensing guideline offering LTE services for the WiMax operators.
The government also gave a new licence to Bangladesh Internet Exchange Ltd (BIEL) that operates as an internet service provider under the brand name of OLLO.
However, the mobile operators raised concerns about the amendment, as WiMax operators would get the opportunity to provide voice services as well.
The Association of Mobile Telecom Operators of Bangladesh also wrote to the government and the regulator on the matter.
“It will be noted that OLLO won’t be able to provide cellular voice services,” Bose said.
BTRC has already asked OLLO to deposit its license and spectrum fee.
After paying 50 percent of the total spectrum charge of Tk 245 crore, OLLO will get its licence, Bose said.
Last month, BTRC permitted two existing BWA licensees—Banglalion and Qubee—to roll out their network with LTE technology.
BTRC allowed the BWA licensees to upgrade their network with LTE technology as the WiMax technology is going to become extinct in the next few years.

source: http://www.thedailystar.net/beta2/news/btrc-wont-allow-wimax-firms-to-give-voice-services/