(Adds Novak, minister's comments, background)
PRAGUE, Jan 27 (Reuters) - The head of the Czech telecoms
watchdog has resigned over government changes to a planned
auction of frequencies for 5G telecoms networks, saying they
risked slowing the rollout of the technology and were likely to
result in court disputes.
The Czech Telecommunication Office (CTU) is planning an
auction of frequencies in the 700 MHz and 3.5 GHz bands this
year to boost competition in a market where high prices have
long been a gripe of customers and politicians.
However, CTU chief Jaromir Novak said the government had
made some last-minute changes to the conditions of the auction
that he feared could put off bidders and delay 5G technology.
"I cannot sign under auction conditions that in my deep
conviction will not improve the competitive environment in the
Czech market, they will jeopardize the target of rapidly
introducing 5G networks and they will likely lead to a number of
court disputes," Novak said in a resignation letter which he
posted on his Twitter account.
In particular, Novak said the government had shifted to put
too much emphasis on national roaming - which would allow
customers to switch among operators as if they were travelling
abroad - in the 3.5 GHz band, which he said could not be used
across the whole country.
Novak also told Reuters in an emailed reply to questions
that he had not been consulted properly about the changes.
Industry Minister Karel Havlicek said the adjustments were
proposed due to low interest from bidders.
"The interest among foreign bidders is zero, among the Czech
bidders it is quite minimal, based on that, we started to
discuss new conditions today," Havlicek said in a televised
briefing after a government meeting.
He added the government had fired Novak and appointed CTU
board member Hana Tovarkova to replace him. The CTU did not
immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Czech telecoms market is currently dominated by three
companies: O2 Czech Republic, T-Mobile and
Vodafone.
The auction was planned to start this month but the
government pushed the date back to later this year as the
conditions were being finalised.
(Reporting by Jan Lopatka and Robert Muller; Editing by Mark
Potter)
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