The authority had received a application confirmation, along with a Aus$50,000 fee from each firm by the deadline which passed on February, 19 2001.
The ACA received application from AAPT Spectrum, CKW Wireless, Hutchison Telecommunications Australia, Optus Mobile, Telstra 3G Spectrum Holdings, Vodafone Pacific and 3G Investments.
The auctions are expected to start around May with successful bidders being allocated licenses for a 15-year term commencing in October 2002. Under the ACA’s auction system, licenses in the 2 GHz band will be allocated by simultaneous ascending auction, in which all lots are offered for bidding at the same time. Bidders may bid on any lot or combination of lots subject to bidding limits, also competition limits already set for the auction mean that a bidder can acquire no more than 25% of the available spectrum.
