The expensive and complex royalty-based spectrum fee structure used for third-generation licensing is unlikely to be a guide in the auction for broadband wireless access (BWA) expected by the first half of next year, according to the telecommunications regulator.
Office of the Telecommunications Authority assistant director Ha Yung-kuen cited Singapore's recent BWA auction where operators won licences at prices equivalent to just 3 per cent of what mobile operators paid for their 3G spectrum in 2001, saying the industry now had a more realistic attitude towards new spectrum bidding.
'We no longer have the internet bubble and hype over new spectrum bidding for new technology,' Mr Ha told a forum on fixed-mobile convergence yesterday.
Meanwhile, director-general of telecommunications Au Man-ho said the low prices paid for BWA spectrum in Singapore showed the appeal of the new technology had been exaggerated.
'If BWA was going to generate so much revenue, BWA spectrum should have been priced higher in Singapore,' he said.
BWA technologies such as WiMax and the UMTS-TDD (universal mobile telecommunications service time-division duplex) deployed by PCCW's UK Broadband will allow 'personal broadband' for mobile device users anytime anywhere.