The president of the Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko, has moved to block a planned auction of a new 3G license in the country next month, claiming that releasing the new spectrum would jeopardise Ukraine’s national security. According to a Reuters report, the government was originally planning to transfer spectrum currently held by the military for use by a commercial operator. The report adds that Yushchenko’s objection may be politically motivated as he is at odds with the government of Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, a presidential rival.
The Ukrainian regulator had planned to sell a license with 25MHz of spectrum in an auction in November. A reserve price for the new license was set at UAH400 million (US$50 million); the country’s largest mobile operator Kiyvstar (part-owned by Norway’s Telenor) and Russia’s VimpelCom were among the expected bidders. To date, only one 3G license has been issued in the Ukraine: to Utel, the mobile unit of state-run fixed-line operator, Ukrtelecom. According to Wireless Intelligence data, Utel had just under 500,000 3G connections by the end of 2Q09.
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