On behalf of the Federal Communications Commission (ComCom), the Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM) put two national BWA licences out to tender on 5th December 2006. By the deadline, OFCOM had received just one application from the company Inquam Broadband GmbH (Cologne). Examination of the candidature indicated that Inquam satisfied all the conditions for the award of a licence (see also OFCOM's press release dated 12.2.2007).

In accordance with the tender conditions, ComCom has therefore decided to award Inquam the larger of the two BWA licences put out to tender (2 x 21 MHz) for the minimum price of CHF 5.8 million.

In order to ensure that the frequencies allocated will be used for the benefit of consumers, the licence includes minimum conditions concerning the construction of the network. The licensee is obliged to start commercial operation by 30th September 2008 at the latest and to operate at least 120 transmission/reception units by the end of September 2010. This condition allows the licensee largely to determine for itself a level of network construction which is reasonable with a view to the market. With regard to the construction of networks, the decree on protection from non-ionising radiation must be complied with.

For the frequency bandwidth of 2 x 17.5 MHz which has not yet been awarded, clarification is currently in progress as to how this could be awarded on application for local use. It is expected that OFCOM will publish the conditions for such an award in August 2007.

ComCom awards a BWA licence to Inquam