Australia's third largest telecommunications company AAPT has pulled out of the third generation spectrum auction at the last minute - leaving six contenders in the scramble.
AAPT's majority owner Telecom New Zealand announced the withdrawal just at the 11th hour - the first round of the auction kicked off at 9 o'clock this morning.
"Telecom has a number of options that do not require us to take part in the options," a Telecom NZ spokesperson told ZDNet.
"We're well placed to take part in the rationalisation of the telecommunications industry in Australia."
Telecom NZ, which owns 100 percent of AAPT, will forgo a AU$50,000 registration fee but said that the AU$137 million bond is fully refundable.
The telco says it will continue to assess strategic opportunities for an expanded presence in the Australian mobile market and its decision in respect of the auction is not inconsistent with this.
Telecom claims to be in talks with various parties, but would not disclose who or the substance of discussions.
Remaining bidders in the auction are 3G Investments, CKW Wireless, Hutchison Telecommunications, Optus Mobile, Telstra 3G Spectrum Holdings and Vodafone Pacific.
