Telekom-Control Commission: UMTS Auction to start on November 2

Press release dated 19 September 2000

In its session on September 13, 2000, the Telekom-Control Commission decided that the Austrian UMTS/IMT-2000 auction procedure will begin on November 2, 2000, unless a preliminary auction is held.

The Telekom-Control Commission plans to have decided whether there is a need for preliminary auction to eliminate affiliated companies by September 25, and to have completed its economic and technical review of the application documents by October 9, 2000. The auction will be held Mondays through Saturdays from 9:00 to 6:00pm each day at a central location in the greater Vienna area.

Rules of Procedure available on TKC web site

The Rules of Procedure for the UMTS/IMT-2000 auction can now be downloaded from the TKC web site. The Rules contain the auction rules as well as all technical arrangements necessary to carry out the auction procedure. Bids will be placed using a software application, and the interested public will be able to track the current status of the auction on the Web.

Abuse of influence (collusive behavior) prohibited and punishable

If before or during the auction any applicants are found to have attempted to influence the events or results of the auction by means of collusive behavior, or to have cooperated before or during the auction, these applicants may be excluded from the auction procedure under § 49a par. 7 of the Austrian Telecommunications Act (TKG). This also applies to threats made to competitors as well as the public announcement of bid amounts or strategies.

In such cases, the auctioneer (the Commission) shall have the right to take all appropriate measures to prevent collusive behavior, which could possibly entail excluding individual applicants from the auction or discontinuing the procedure itself.