[ASIA] On Wednesday, the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA), responding to recent media reports of delays in its exercise to auction four 3G licenses, issued a clarification that though the timetable has been set back about three to four weeks, “it is substantially on schedule and moving forward expeditiously.”
IDA previously announced that it expected to publish the documentation on auction rules in
December 2000, and to conduct the auction in February 2001. Publication of the draft auction
rules is now expected sometime this month, with the auction to be conducted by April 2001.
In a statement, IDA said that its goal is a 3G auction that will provide maximum benefit for both
Singapore’s telecom consumers and the industry that serves them. “To this end, IDA would like to
attract as many qualified bidders as possible to Singapore’s 3G auction, both from within and
outside the local market,” it stated.
“While the 3G market sentiment is weaker than a few months ago, potential bidders, both inside
and outside Singapore, have responded positively to our 3G licensing exercise . In discussions
with the potential bidders, many companies have asked for additional time to consider the auction
document. They have also requested for more time to submit comments on the draft auction rules.
IDA has agreed to accommodate these requests. The consultation process will be valuable, and
for this reason, the auction timetable has been lengthened,” the statement continued.