By RACHNA LAL
Government has confirmed that more than $5 million was raised during the 4G LTE spectrum auction which started on Monday and finished yesterday.
The Attorney-General and Minister for Communications, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, said the auction exceeded expectations.
“It raised more than $5 million for the Fijian people and opened the door to the future of 4G service, providing smart phone users super fast internet connections,” he said.
These, he said, included streaming, browsing and video calling.
“The new 4G technology, together with Government’s Universal Access Programme and Local Internet Exchange, will expand mobile coverage and make the internet more accessible and affordable for the Fijian people.”
Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said it was on behalf of the Fijian people, the Bainimarama Government for the first time insisted on a transparent competitive process to allocate the frequencies on the radio spectrum used by mobile phone carriers.
“The Fijian people are entitled to fair compensation in return for the right of these companies to use the public’s airwaves to make a profit,” he said.
Digicel delighted with wins
Taking part in the auction were Telecom Fiji, Vodafone Fiji and Digicel Fiji.
Digicel Fiji yesterday said they were delighted to have secured the 4G LTE spectrum which would compliment the ‘Unwired’ 4G network currently operated by Digicel in Fiji.
Chief executive, Maurice McCarthy, said: “This is wonderful news for our valued customers and clearly highlights our ongoing commitment to both them and Fiji in general.”
Digicel secured the maximum allocation of 30MHz of Spectrum.
Mr McCarthy said Digicel had also secured its first preference, 15MHz of the 1800MHz band and 15MHz of the 700MHz band and was delighted with the outcome of the auction.