CELL BIDDERS READY TO QUIT OVER FREQUENCY ROW

BIDDER for the third cellphone licence say they might as well throw in the towell after South African Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (Satra) on Tuesday began a process of amending the MTN and Vodacom licences to include the coveted 1800 GSM as well as the current 900 GSM frequency. Business Day reports that bidders say they will have have no chance of commercial success if the incumbent operators are given the 1800 spectrum. Vodacom and MTN argue that additional capacity is needed to relieve congestion and expand their networks. But potential licence holders say they need an exclusive right to the 1800 spectrum as a bargaining chip to clinch roaming and infrastructure-sharing deals.