Polish regulator, the Office of Electronic Communications (UKE), cancelled a spectrum auction due to the potential for legal uncertainty.

Magdalena Gaj, president of the regulator, took the decision to cancel the auction due to “technical problems” that stopped participants from being able to access clarifications of auction documentation for two and a half hours.

This left auction participants “exposed to the risk of questioning the decisions taken after the auction”, according to the UKE.

The UKE therefore cancelled the auction for licences in the 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 2.5 GHz and 2.6 GHz bands due to “concern for ensuring stability and legal certainty as well as eliminating any possible doubts of formal and legal nature that may accompany the auction procedure”.

Gaj was quoted as saying that her “obligation as a regulatory authority is to ensure that all market players may conduct their business in stable and certain environment”.

The UKE has started to work on a new schedule for the auction procedure, the first step of which is to publish the auction documentation for consultations with all interested parties.

Notice of the auction was first published on 30 December last year, with the time limit for the submission of initial bids set for 13 February.