The Australian government has reached a licence renewal price compromise that ends a dispute with the mobile operators. The deal follows the announcement of caps on the amount of spectrum operators can bid on in the upcoming digital dividend auction. The industry had sought to avoid having both processes running in parallel as this would mean large capital outlays at the same time. The first spectrum renewal payments of around AUD 1 billion are due from Telstra and Vodafone in June 2013, which is less than the companies feared last year, The Australian Financial Review writes citing unnamed sources. The government valued the 800 MHz spectrum at AUD 1.4 billion in December last year, which prompted strong reactions from Telstra and Vodafone. The AUD 1 billion is split roughly equally between Telstra and Vodafone and is for 800 MHz spectrum as well as some 1800 MHz spectrum. The renewal of the spectrum licences is expected to raise approximately AUD 3 billion for the government over the next four years.
