Australian telecommunications and internet service provider, TPG Telecom (ASX:TPM), is making a bid to take to the air in Singapore, after taking the first step to compete in a wireless mobile spectrum auction in the city-state.
The company, which is publicly listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), told investors on 2 September that it had submitted an Expression of Interest (EOI) to prequalify for the ‘New Entrant Spectrum Auction’ being carried out by Singapore’s Infocomm Development Authority (IDA).
“The auction represents an opportunity to establish innovative and exciting mobile telecommunications products which will support Singapore’s evolving Smart Nation capabilities,” the company said in statement.
If TPG is successful in its prequalification for the auction, it will be free to bid for two lots of 2X 5MHz in the 900MHz spectrum, and eight lots of 5MHz in the 2.3GHz spectrum.
The IDA’s spectrum auction framework was announced in February, with the Authority making a total of 235 MHz of spectrum available for mobile services.
At the time, the IDA said that it would allow the entry of a new mobile network operator to join the auction, in addition to incumbent providers in the market, to “enhance innovation and competition in the mobile market”.
“TPG notes the very positive step taken by the IDA to encourage a fourth entrant by making a substantial portion of the spectrum available for sale to new entrants only,” the company said.
The lodgment is merely the first step in the auction process, and TPG will not know if it is successful in the auction until later this year, when it is completed.
If it is successful in joining the auction and making a winning bid for segments of the Singapore mobile spectrum, TPG will have until October 2018 to achieve nation-wide outdoor service coverage.
