Eircom, Chorus, Formus Communications and Energis Local Access Ltd have all made £100,000 sterling (€165,700) bids for fixed wireless Internet licences in Northern Ireland. The companies bid for licences in a UK auction which closed early yesterday on what telecoms experts termed a "disappointing day" for the British Exchequer.
The auction was delayed when one company asked for a recess after only the first round of bids was completed. A second competitor, Unica Communications, had previously announced it was withdrawing altogether.
Bids totalled £27.1 million at the end of the first round. But eight regions - including Scotland, Wales and rural areas of England - had not had a single bid for any of the three licences available in each region.
Telecoms analysts last night speculated that the Exchequer may not get close to the expected haul of £1 billion forecast by analysts prior to the competition.
"The stock market is very negative on telecoms companies," said one telecoms specialist.
However, a British Department of Trade and Industry spokesman said the lack of early interest may be "tactics". He said the government would review what to do with any licences left unsold at the end of the auction.
Broadband fixed wireless technology enables companies to beam high-speed Internet into buildings via radiowaves. It is an alternative to broadband supplied by fibre connections but can prove expensive to utilise in areas with few business customers to target.
Northern Ireland and London proved the most popular regions, each attracting four bidders. The four contenders for the Northern Ireland licences are keen to build an all-Ireland fixed wireless offering. Energis Local Access, is likely to be bidding on behalf of Nevada tele.com, which recently acquired Stentor in the Republic and is a joint venture between Viridian and Energis.
The four bidders for the Northern Irish licences all bid for one of the three licences on offer - licence two. The second round of the contest on Monday morning is likely to see bids on licences one and three. Before Eircom entered negotiations with Vodafone, it had been thought the company might bid in Manchester or London regions.
Several companies including Broadnet, Faultbasic and Norweb Telecom Ltd could still enter the Northern Irish contest.
