The three existing Czech mobile operators, Telefonica Czech Republic, T-Mobile and Vodafone, won an auction of radio spectrum for 4G high-speed mobile data networks, the telecoms regulator said on Tuesday.
The regulator, CTU, said two newcomers, Revolution Mobile and Sazka Telecommunications, did not win any frequencies - a surprise given that auction conditions included setting aside space for a fourth operator.
The sale raised 8.5 billion crowns ($420.44 million) for the Czech state budget.
"They (new entrants) followed a strategy that did not earn them any frequency," CTU spokesman Martin Drtina said.
"They (new entrants) followed a strategy that did not earn them any frequency," CTU spokesman Martin Drtina said.
Governments across Europe are rushing to roll out networks based on 4G's LTE (long-term evolution) technology, which enables faster mobile broadband access.
"Given the operators have been experimenting with LTE already, I gather that customers will be able to use really fast Internet on a mobile or tablet in a large part of the Czech Republic within one year," CTU Chairman Jaromir Novak said in a statement.
Telefonica Czech Republic (Prague, Czech Republic), which already covers significant parts of the capital Prague and second city Brno with LTE networks, said it would start building a 4G network in new locations in the first half of 2014.
It paid 2.8 billion crowns for its received frequencies, including 2.4 billion for two blocks in the important 800 MHz band.
T-Mobile (Prague, Czech Republic) also won two blocks in that bandwidth, paying 2.2 billion and 2.6 billion overall. Vodafone (Prague, Czech Republic) received one block in the 800 MHz band for 2.7 billion, paying 3.1 billion overall for frequencies.
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