TPG is Singapore's fourth telco

TPG Telecom has emerged as Singapore's fourth telco, with a winning bid of S$105 million in the New Entrant Spectrum Auction (NESA) which concluded on Wednesday.

TPG will be provisionally allocated 60 MHz of spectrum made available in the NESA - comprising 20 MHz in the 900 MHz spectrum band and 40 MHz in the 2.3 GHz spectrum band - to provide International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT) and IMT-Advanced services (eg, 4G services).

The new spectrum rights are expected to commence on April 1, 2017 at the earliest, the Info-communications Media Development Authority (IMDA) announced on Wednesday.

TPG will be required to utilise the allocated spectrum to provide nationwide street level coverage for 4G within 18 months from the start of the new spectrum rights; road tunnels and in-building service coverage within 30 months from the start of the new spectrum rights; and coverage for MRT underground stations and lines within 54 months from the start of the new spectrum rights.

IMDA will next proceed with the second stage of the auction, the General Spectrum Auction (GSA), which will be open to the existing mobile network operators - M1, Singtel and StarHub.

TPG may also participate in the GSA.

IMDA aims to commence the GSA in the first quarter of 2017.