Plus mobile operator fails to pay for 3G licence

TIRANA, Dec. 2 – Plus Communication, the smallest and only Albanian-owned mobile operator, has been stripped of its opportunity to get its much-awaited 3G licence after failing to pay its Euro 3 million bid, the country’s Electronic Communications Authority has announced.
AKEP, which is responsible for supervising the mobile phone market, said Plus failed to make the full payment in its seven-day deadline and instead paid only Euro 100,000 out of its Euro 2.97 million bid for the fourth 3G licence.
The fourth mobile, a consortium led by Kosovo Post-Telecom company (PTK), launched operations in late 2010 after it was awarded the fourth GSM licence in an international tender in January 2009 for 7.2 million euros.
In a tender held last September, Plus offered 2.97 million euros on two of the four frequency bands for the use of the 3G service offering faster mobile internet access ahead of the shift to 4G LTE technology next year, being the highest bidder.
Vodafone Albania, part of the UK-based Vodafone Group, offered euro 1.552 million euros on the third frequency band while AMC, now part of the part of Deutsche Telekom Group, bid Euro 1.55 million.
Based on bids submitted, AKEP announced Plus Communication and Vodafone Albania as the winners of the remaining 3G frequency bands.
Currently, three out of four mobile companies operating in Albania, offer the 3G service enabling faster mobile internet access. Vodafone Albania won the first 15-year licence after offering 31.4 million euros in November 2010. The second licence was awarded to AMC, now part of Deutsche Telekom, in October 2011 for 15.1 million euros and the third 3G licence in late 2012 went to Turkey’s Eagle Mobile for Euro 4 million.
The number of mobile subscribers with 3G access almost doubled to 1.2 million in 2013 after a third operator made the service available.
Albania’s Electronic and Postal Communications Authority says it has finalized a public consultation that will pave the way to the launch of the fourth generation of mobile service known as 4G LTE coverage. Under a decision made last August, the electronic communications authority, AKEP, says it will award licences on 1800 MHz frequency band for the GSM/LTE/UMTS/WiMAX, enabling the launch of the 4G technology.