The government said it wants to award the licenses to operate Universal Mobile Telecommunications System, or UMTS, from July to September. The new frequency allows Internet access through mobile phones and should be available in 2002.
Under the plan, each of the current three operators of mobile phone services in the country--EuroTel, RadioMobil and Cesky Mobil--would be offered a license for a fixed price of 5 billion koruna (US$133.5 million). The government then will auction a fourth permit.
"The government insists on the one-time revenue in 2001 of at least 20 billion koruna" for selling the licenses, government spokesman Libor Roucek said at a press conference.
The Czech Republic may struggle to raise that money, analysts said, as European phone companies question whether the return from UMTS services is worth the cost of buying licenses.
Poland in December called off an auction of five new licenses after receiving three bids from mobile phone companies already operating in the country. France has said it will try a second time to sell licenses after only two companies bid for four on offer.
The Czech government plans to invite bids for the licenses through a tender in April and expects to hold the auction in June or July.
Roucek could not provide more details, but said the government did not set a minimum price for the auction.
Lehman Brothers has estimated the Czech Republic could raise about 15 billion koruna, or about US$100 million for each license.
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