German UMTS mobile auction

Germany announced an auction of broadband UMTS mobile licences yesterday which could raise almost $50 billion (€54.9 billion) to cut government debt as cellphone firms scramble to buy capacity for new Internet services. At least eight consortiums - including Germany's four mobile network operators and eight foreign rivals - have entered the race, but with as few as four licences up for grabs analysts forecast a bidding war will generate a multi-billion deutschmark windfall for Finance Minister Mr Hans Eichel's budget reform drive.