Indonesian Government Rescinds Licenses of 4 WiMax Auction Winners

WASHINGTON August 3, 2010- The Indonesian government has repealed the licenses of four WiMax auction winners.

WASHINGTON August 3, 2010- The Indonesian government has repealed the licenses of four WiMax auction winners.

In 2009 the government held an auction for the rights to setup WiMax networks. The nation was split into 15 zones and each winning firm was given a license to operate a network using the 2.3 Ghz and 3.3Ghz spectrum band. Eight companies won the rights to provide access and each zone had a maximum of two providers.

Rahajasa Media Internet, Internux, and a consortium of Comtronics Systems and Adiwarta Perdania will lose their licenses for failure to live up to their commitments.

“The government was very tolerant in giving them an additional three months to pay, but the deadline came and they still could not pay,” said Communications and Information Technology Ministry spokesman Gatot Dewa Broto, “The ministry is preparing for the bidding, but we have not decided on a date. Hopefully, it will take place by the end of this year or early next year,”

The four other winners  PT First Media, PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia, PT Indosat Mega Media and PT Jasnita Telekomindo have all began to develop their networks and will soon begin trials.