Warsaw plan to cut short4G auction risks claim, says Greek-Polish bidder
Poland’s fourth-biggest mobile phone operator said it may sue the Polish government if it changes the rules of an ongoing auction for high-speed mobile frequencies. Kifissia, Greece-based Olympia Development SA, which owns operator P4 Sp zoo, said in an e-mailed statement that Poland’s plan to stop the bidding for the Long-Term Evolution, or LTE, frequencies after 115 auction days would cause an “irreversible infringement of interests” for its unit and and may cause “tangible damages” up to 500 million euros.
Olympia, referring to a Poland-Greece investment treaty, is piling more pressure on the government as the country seeks to end an already eight-month-long auction in October.
Administration Minister Andrzej Halicki’s proposal was criticized by other bidders, including Cyfrowy Polsat SA’s mobile unit Polkomtel Sp zoo and Deutsche Telekom AG’s AG Polish unit T-Mobile Polska SA. With offers totaling 7.39 billion zloty ($1.95 billion) as of September 22, Polish licenses are working out almost as pricey as those in France and Germany despite lower revenue per customer.
[Bloomberg]
