And Friday's auction shows that most operators balk at paying such a high price for a licence, which will not give them any financial returns for some years. The process hit another snag when the numbers of bidders started dwindling. Both Hutchison 3G, a unit of Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa, and subsidiary of UK telecoms group NTL pulled out of the race. The Netherlands' leading telephone operator, KPN, declined to say if it took part in the auction. Libertel topped the bids, offering 45.38m euros, 28m, licence B, one of the high-capacity licences.
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