Claro and Dedicado will present appeals against the Executive decree that enabled the bidding process. Movistar analyzes taking measures.
The auction for the 5G network continues to add controversies and headaches for the government days after the call for tenders opens: now, Clear and Dedicated seek to challenge the Executive decree that authorized the competitive process to expand telecommunications technology in Uruguay, and from the Communication Services Regulatory Unit (Ursec) They are considering pausing the auction.
The critics They have known each other since the first day the draft of the sheet, and some actions, like those of Dedicated, do not take anyone by surprise by the level of previous announcement that they had. However, they are still complications for the government, which even put aside the competitive process for the renewal of network spectrums. 3G and 4G —Betting on the automatic renewal of the players that participate in the market today, Antel, Movistar and Claro—with the aim of concentrating their own efforts and those of the companies—in an exemplary tender for 5G.
It certainly didn’t happen, and the problems kept piling up. The bidding terms and conditions for the auction, for its part, were approved on March 30, and Ursec has a period of 30 days to open the auction of the two blocks for private companies —the third is reserved for Antel. April will be the key month for this process that already has detractors in just five days of the month.
Companies, unexpected obstacles for the government
On the one hand, Claro will present a administrative appeal against the statement, mainly due to the base price of each 100 MHz section, valued at 28 million dollars, as it has no “foundation”; and due to the “competitive inequality” established by the allocation already made to Antel of its section in the 5G band, according to El País, one of the first points observed by private parties. Likewise, Movistar analyzes what steps to take since the conditions do not “facilitate” a “competitive deployment”.
Both companies also present problems regarding the automatic renewal of 3G and 4G networks: Of course, considering that the established prices did not contemplate the evolution of the business of each particular actor; and Movistar, due to their links with the president of Ursec, Mercedes Aramendia, as well as the possibility that the company has been benefited in the determination of service value.
On the other hand, Dedicated would challenge the decree of the Executive Power that enabled the auction, as they had announced as soon as the draft of the specifications with the bases and conditions was known. According to the company, the auction was designed in such a way that the requirements to participate intentionally exclude national providers. do not rule out submit the claim to the court.
The position of the opposition in the Ursec
Although Ursec has a period of 30 days to open the tender —during April—, for the director representing the Broad Front, Pablo Siris, the process should be put into pause before the multiple inconveniences and complaints that it has received from the beginning, now magnified before the possibility of concrete presentations.
In dialogue with La Diaria, The Frente Amplio director pointed out that the disagreement of the companies was “absolutely foreseeable”, and that the Executive Power should suspend the auction of the 5G network to avoid “extremely onerous results for the State” in the event that the claim of the private actors is made effective.
Source: Ambito
