Industry sources doubt China Mobile will clean up at 3G spectrum auction

China Mobile is unlikely to win the third of the 3G spectrum about to be prised away from the city's four incumbent 3G mobile network operators and put up for auction, sources close to the matter say.

Local operators have also vastly inflated the cost of reassigning 3G spectrum share from one operator to another, costs which both existing network operators and consumers would bear under the government's plan, the sources said.

There have been suggestions that next year's auction was politically motivated to allow China Mobile, the world's largest wireless network operator, to enter the local 3G market.

Industry observers have speculated that the state-owned operator, with its vast capital, would push up the price of the reassigned 3G spectrum at auction, resulting in higher service fees but poorer services.

Sources rejected the idea that China Mobile would be willing to pay any cost to outbid others.

"Some say the current operators stand no chance of winning back the 3G spectrum in an auction, but we need to look at China Mobile Hong Kong's track record," one of the sources said.