Rural Telephony Auction Attracts 30

Nearly 30 telcos have acquired bidding rules for three 20-year rural telephony concessions, financial daily La Gestion (Peru) reported. The bidding period closes tomorrow with bids being opened on September 28. The government has valued the three concessions at some US$60mn and will award them to the companies whose bids require the lowest government subsidies. The projects cover 2,300 rural communities in the North, North Central, and East Central zones of the country, and will benefit more than two million residents. The concessions are part of the Rural Projects Program (PPR) managed by rural telephony development agency FITEL, which has pledged to install call centers in 5,000 communities by the end of 2001. Telecom operators must contribute 1% of total billing to a universal service fund to finance FITEL projects. Interested bidders include: Alcatel (NYSE: ALA), Asociación Cosapi Data Avantec, B&G Telecom, C&G Telecom, Global Village Telecom (GVT), HH Telecom, Infoductos y Telecomunicaciones del Perú, Mitsui & Co Ltd., Telefónica del Perú(NYSE: TDP), and Telerep.