Hungary gets mobile tender back on track

Hungary will re-open the tender for a fourth mobile license in the country that was abandoned early 2009 due to the global economic crisis.
 
The government hopes to raise 20 million Hungarian Forints (€71,000) from the sale, which is back in the cards following meetings between the National Development Ministry and leading telcos earlier this week, local news site Portfolio.hu reports.
 
Although the 900MHz license would open the door to a new entrant, local press reports state existing mobile operators Magyar Telekom, Vodafone, and Telenor are keen to use the frequency to expand their current capacity, Portfolio said.
 
Incumbent operators were banned from taking part in the original auction, which was opened in October 2008 and subsequently abandoned in March 2009.
 
The tender attracted interest from four new entrants – DreamCom, Digi, MobiNet, and Invitel.