Anatel will auction leftover frequencies in bands D and E on October 22. As announced earlier, except for long distance, minimum prices and payment terms are as stated in the bidding notice issued in March, when no bidders came forward. Jarbas Valente, Anatel?s head of private services, released Thursday, August 22, the rules, timetable, minimum prices and lots for the auction. The only novelty relates to the long-distance licenses, which will no longer be granted automatically. Instead, bidders that acquire PCS licenses will have to wait 12 months to say whether they also want long-distance licenses, each of which will cost 9,000 Brazilian Reals (now about 3,000 US Dollars). Any telco can bid but fixed-line telcos won?t be allowed to start operating before fulfilling regulatory targets. Cellular companies that acquire licenses for areas in which they already operate will have to relinquish control or sell the existing operation. Coverage and other obligations are unchanged from the previous bidding notice. Only in Paraná e and Santa Catarina will two licenses be offered (one each for D band and E band).
Rebid
Rebids will be allowed if there is more than one bidder for an area, initially for bids up to 20% below the highest. Anatel will automatically call on all bidders to rebid if the highest bid is 20% more than the next-highest. If the top two bids are from affiliated companies, only the higher will be eligible for rebid. Qualifying documentation will be analyzed only for winning bidders. The notice was published in the Federal Register (Diário Oficial da União) on August 26. Guarantees (10% downpayment) must be deposited October 14, and bids delivered on the following day. Price envelopes will be opened October 22 and qualifying documentation analyzed October 29. Winners will be announced and new licenses signed on November 11 and 21 respectively.
