Jordan to float first tender of 3G frequencies in mid-Dec.

AMMAN, Nov. 27 (Chinese media) -- Jordan will float a public tender onthe first

Third Generation (3G) frequencies licence in mid-December, local daily The

Jordan Times reported Thursday.

Ahmad Hiyasat, chief commissioner and CEO of the Telecommunication

Regulatory Commission (TRC), was quoted as confirming that the deadline for

submitting bids is Jan. 27, 2009 and the winning candidate will be announced

during the same week.

The reserve price of the spectrum is set at 25 million Jordanian dinars, or

about 35.3 million U.S. dollars for a paired block of the 5 MHz spectrum,

according to Hiyasat.

TRC will request the cabinet to grant the companies that acquire 3G

frequencies and any new company that acquires 2G frequencies an exemption from

custom duties for a period of four years in the same way that was granted to

mobile telecommunication companies previously, said Hiyasat.

3G is the third generation of standards and technology, superseding 2.5G.

3G networks enable network operators to offer users a wider range of more

advanced services, while achieving greater network capacity through improved

spectral efficiency. (1U.S. dollar=0.708 Jordanian dinar)