T-Mobile Austria confirms spectrum transfer appeal

News Wireless Austria 2 JAN 2013
T-Mobile Austria confirms spectrum transfer appeal
T-Mobile Austria confirmed in a blog post that it has filed an appeal against the Austrian telecommunications commission TKK#s decision in December 2012 to approve the transfer of spectrum from Orange Austria to 3 Austria and from 3 Austria to A1 Telekom Austria as part of the acquisition of Orange by 3. 

The appeal was filed on 31 December 2012 with the Federal Administrative court and claims that the spectrum transfer enables 3 Austria and A1 to use 2100 MHz (for UMTS/HSPA) and 2600 MHz (for LTE) more efficiently and at lower cost to expand their networks. This offers them an unfair market advantage over T-Mobile, thus distorting the Austrian mobile market. T-Mobile demands that the TKK redistributes UMTS/HSPA frequencies in a more fair way, which is a possibility according to the telecommunications law and has been calling for such a measure during the approval process of the merger. 

The appeal is based on the fact that the TKK denied T-Mobile its third-party right during the approval process. T-Mobile said this is the only way to ensure a fair future for itself on the Austrian market. The operator also demanded an injunction on the transfer of the frequencies, meaning a delay for the completion of the Orange Austria acquisition. The Administrative Court will decide on the injunction during the coming days.

Categories:

Mobile

Companies:

Orange Austria,  A1 Telekom Austria,  3 Austria,  TKK,  T-Mobile Austria

Countries:

Austria

Tags:

Cooperations & alliances, Regulations, Legislation - Lawsuits, M&A buyouts & divestments

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