[May 20, 2013] VelaTel interested in LTE licence in Slovakia - report [IntelliNews - Weekly Reports] Tweet (IntelliNews - Weekly Reports Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Telecoms firm VelaTel Global Communications has expressed interest in acquiring a 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) licence in Slovakia, SME.sk reported, quoting unnamed sources. Slovakia's telecommunications regulator TUSR plans to hold an e-auction for awarding 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) licences in the available 800MHz, 1,800MHz and 2,600MHz frequency ranges this year. It has stated that the 1,800MHz band can be allocated only to an operator, which is not currently active on the Slovak market. VelaTel focuses on the deployment of telecommunications networks that utilize Wireless Broadband Access (WBA) in emerging international markets. It has operations in China, Peru and Eastern Europe and is investigating opportunities to enter other markets. TUSR confirmed it has had talks with representatives of VelaTel and said that it has been approached also by other foreign telecom companies interested in entering the Slovak market, but declined to disclose their names. The authority hopes that the entry of a new operator would boost competition and thus lead to better prices and services on the market. The three mobile firms that operate in Slovakia, Deutsche Telekom's Slovak Telekom, France Telecom's Orange and Spanish Telefonica's O2 have also expressed interest to get a licence and build a 4G LTE network. Other companies that reportedly have shown interest in the licence include Slovak triple-play services provider Slovanet, Slovak TV and radio broadcasting services provider Towercom, Vietnamese telecoms services provider Viettel, PPF Mobile Services, a new project of the PPF investment group, belonging to Czech billionaire Petr Kellner, and Czech financial and investment group J&T Group. (c) 2013 Emerging Markets Direct Media Holdings LLC Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]