Three companies have applied to become Singapore's fourth mobile operator, the InfoComm Development Authority of Singapore announced. These are Australian operator TPG Telecom, French businessman Xavier Niel’s local company MyRepublic and the company AirYotta.
The deadline for applications to the auction was 01 September, and the bidders will compete for spectrum in the 700, 900, 2,300 and 2,500 MHz bands. Singapore is expected to name a winner by mid-October and award the spectrum by next April. The winning applicant will compete with the existing operators Singtel, M1 and Starhub.
MyRepublic, whose investors include Niel and Indonesia’s Sinar Mas Group, is already a broadband provider in Singapore and has pledged to shake up the market with low-cost offers. AirYotta is led by Michael DeNoma, the former CEO of OMGTel, and its management also includes OMGTel's former vice-president for networks and infrastructure, Philip Heah, the Straits Times reports. OMGTel had said previously it planned to bid, but did not make a final application.
