Jordan’s regulator values 2G spectrum higher than 3G

The tender for Jordan’s first 3G licence will open in mid-December, with interested parties having until January 27, 2009 to submit their bids, the kingdom’s regulator announced yesterday. A concurrent and separate tender will also take place for 2G spectrum.

The TRC’s chief commissioner and CEO Ahmad Hiasat said 3G spectrum will cost at least JD25 million (US$35.3 million), while 2G will cost 1.3 times the price paid for 3G

The Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) expects to tender a single 3G licence within three weeks, with new entrants and incumbent mobile operators – Orange Jordan, Umniah, Zain Jordan and Xpress – eligible to bid.

A ten-month ‘separation period’ of exclusivity will apply to the winning bidder, after which 10MHz of 3G spectrum will be offered to the existing operators that did not win the bid, at the price of the winning tender bid.

The reserve price for the 3G licence is set at JD25 million (US$35.3 million) for a paired block of 5MHz of spectrum, and does not include the evacuation charges and annual returns. Parties may bid for 10, 15 or 20 paired blocks of available spectrum.

The reserve price for 2G spectrum will be 130 per cent of the winning price paid for the 3G licence. Therefore, the minimum fee to acquire 2G will be JD32.5 million for a pair of 5MHz spectrum.

The TRC advised it will request the Council of Ministers to grant the winners of the 3G and 2G tenders exemption from custom duties for a period of four years, in the same way it was granted to mobile operators previously.

“TRC will impose roll-out obligations on the licensees to secure the provision of services in at least the capital cities of each governorate in the kingdom within a reasonable timescale,” the TRC’s chief commissioner and CEO Ahmad Hiasat said.

“During the first year, the winning bidder is required to make available the services in certain allocated areas, such as west Amman, then the coverage will expand by the second and third years to cover most of the governorates.”