Mobilkom Austria Signs Deal On Third Network

Telekom Austria's mobile phone operator Mobilkom Austria signed a deal on the licence for the third network.

Austrian mobile phone operator Mobilkom Austria, which is part of Telekom Austria, signed a deal, granting a licence for the third mobile phone network to the Macedonian Agency for Electronic Communications. 

The Austrian company won a public bid and paid 10 million euros within the period that was agreed upon for the licence for the network GMS 900/1800. The licence was granted for the period of 10 years and can be automatically extended by another 10 years, Mobilkom Austria announced on Tuesday.  

The company will invest a total of 70 million euros in Macedonia as well as found and register a new mobile phone service company. In accordance with the agreement, the company has to begin operating no later than six months after the licence was granted and cover 90 percent of the Macedonian population on the whole within 48 months staring with that date.

In order to meet the agency's terms, Mobilkom will initially lean on the existing telecommunications networks in the country while at the same time establishing its own infrastructure. 

The Austrian company is the leader on the Austrian market, with 1.73 billion euros in transactions and operational gain in the amount of 345.0 million euros in 2006. The Group encompasses Mobilkom Austria, Vipnet, Si.mobil, Mobilkom Liechtenstein, Mobiltel, and new operators in Serbia and Macedonia.