Irish Telecom Licence Sales to Raise $667 Million, Times Says

Ireland’s government will raise more than 500 million euros ($667 million) from the auction of high- speed broadband and fourth-generation cell-phone licences this year, the Sunday Times reported, without citing where it got the information.

ComReg, the communications regulator in Dublin, has indicated that the auction process should be completed by the end of July, according to the Irish edition of the newspaper today.

Ireland’s four main cell-phone operators, Vodafone Group Plc (VOD), and units of Telefonica SA (TEF), Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. and Eircom Group Ltd. and broadband providers, Liberty Global Inc.’s UPC Ireland, Imagine Communications Group Ltd. and Digiweb Ltd. may be interested in the licences.

To contact the reporter on this story: Joe Brennan in Dublin at jbrennan29@bloomberg.net;

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Edward Evans at eevans3@bloomberg.net