3G spectrum bidding dawdles along

By PAULA OLIVER

Telecom made its first bid for a chunk of 3G radio spectrum yesterday, but overall bidding in the Government's online auction was again very slow.

Vodafone and Telstra Saturn showed their intentions with opening $3.5 million bids on Monday. Yesterday, Telecom moved into the fray with an identical bid for the remaining band of spectrum.

The bids are barely above the reserve price set down for the frequencies.

The three frequencies are regarded as lucrative because they have the potential to revolutionise mobile phone usage, by streaming video or downloading the internet on a handset.

The three major players have now each made identical bids for one of the three available sets of frequencies, meaning they have not yet faced off against one another in a bidding war.

A similar auction in Britain raised billions of dollars, but analysts are claiming New Zealand's will fall well short of that.

Bidding will continue tomorrow, and goes on until there are no further bids received.