The sale of 2.6GHz spectrum in November will be the first time Finland has sold a band to the highest bidder. It has previously preferred less market-based forms of assignment. Read more...

If the proposed merger between the UK operations of France Telecom’s Orange and Deutsche Telkom’s T-Mobile gets the green light, it adds another complication to the protracted negotiations over the reassignment of UK mobile spectrum. Read more...

Having failed to find a foreign company to be its third mobile operator, with three license awards having gone sour this year already, Iran will try again says its new Communications and Information Technology Minister. Read more...

Jordan has awarded its first 3G license following a protracted period of negotiations between the eventual licensee, Orange Jordan, and the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission. Read more...

An investment of hundreds of millions of dollars in setting up Palestine’s second mobile network could come to nothing due to Israel’s refusal to release 1 MHz of GSM spectrum. Read more...

At a time when consolidation is the name of the game in much of the world, Chile has just awarded two new 3G licenses to give the country of 16 million people a total of five mobile operators. Read more...

Potential problems for femtocells like interference, providing emergency service location information and common definitions for the technology are being raised in international forums but a consensus has yet to emerge on how to deal with them Read more...

India now seems on track to proceed with an auction of seven national licenses, covering both 3G and WiMAX frequencies. The opportunity to address a market of over a billion people means the outcome is being eagerly anticipated. Read more...

The eagerly-awaited consultants report commissioned by Brussels has concluded that a harmonised mobile sub-band will bring enormous economic benefits and should be mandated in all member states. Read more...

The announcement of a proposed merger of the UK mobile operations of France Telecom’s Orange and Deutsche Telekom’s T-Mobile strengthens the arguments of the incumbent French operators who are appealing to the EU over the imminent issue of a further 3G license. Read more...