经济学人:英国4G频谱拍卖 衙门居然没得赚?

 　　Britain The 4G spectrum¹ auction²

　　英国 英国4G频谱拍卖

　　Second time around

　　再来一发？

　　No bonanza³ for the government, but that might be no bad thing

　　这一次衙门估计没得赚，不过或许不是什么坏事

　　Just under 13 years ago the fax machines at the Radio communications Agency were humming. For weeks they spewed out bids for five licences to run third-generation (3G) mobile-phone services. The sums went up and up: in the end 22.5 billion pounds ($35.9 billion) poured into Gordon Brown’s Treasury⁴. For both companies and governments, these are more sober times. On February 20th Ofcom, the telecoms regulator (into which the agency was subsumed in 2003), said that an auction of spectrum to be used for much faster 4G services had raised only 2.3 billion pounds.

　　13年前，英国无线电通讯技术局的传真机嗡嗡作响。几周内，这里前后向外派发5张第三代手机运营服务牌照（3G牌照）。后来这一服务收益不断上涨，最终到布朗政府时代，财政收益达225亿英镑（约合359亿美元）。然而如今无论是公司还是政府都清醒了不少：今年2月20日，英国电信管理部门，2003年并入无线电通讯技术局的英国通信管理局表示，比3G更快的4G服务的频谱拍卖仅上涨了23亿英镑。

　　英国4G频谱拍卖.jpg

　　No one had expected another bonanza, but George Osborne, a chancellor⁵ of the exchequer⁶ who needs the cash much more than Mr Brown did, had been counting on 3.5 billion pounds. The outcome might be less welcome to the Treasury, but it is better for the industry—and perhaps its customers, too.

　　大家都不再期待电信领域会再挖出一个金矿来。不过财政大臣乔治·奥斯本可不这样看。因为比起布朗，他现在手头并不宽裕。奥斯本还需要35亿英镑。然而4G服务的销售结果并不能让英国财政部满意。不过这对于工业领域来说是个好事，而工业本身或许就是4G通讯服务的消费者。

　　Ofcom declared five winners: the four companies with 3G networks plus BT, Britain’s biggest fixed-line operator. One of the four, EE, which is jointly⁷ owned by Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom-Orange, has been running 4G services since the autumn, having won permission from Ofcom to use spectrum it already had. BT has no plans to build a national mobile network, but intends to enhance its existing broadband and Wi-Fi services. Ofcom expects services on the new spectrum to begin in the spring or early summer.

　　英国通信管理局表示，如今这个局面下有五大赢家：四家3G网络公司和英国最大的固定电话运营商BT公司。前四家中的EE公司是由德国电信和法国典型合资经营的，它已经从英国通信管理局那里拿到了频谱许可权。BT公司则并不打算建造覆盖全英的移动通讯网，不过它计划加强现有的宽带和无线网络服务。英国通信管理局希望新的频谱服务能在今年春天或是初夏时分就能启动。

　　The 3G auction came at the height of the dotcom frenzy⁸, when inflated⁹ prices were being paid for assets in telecoms and information technology. The agency also reserved a block of spectrum for a new entrant: that intensified¹⁰ competition and raised prices across the board. Moreover, mobile operators reasoned that without 3G they would have no business at all. “The operators were paying for their survival,” says Matthew Howett of Ovum, a research firm. They were left without the money to deploy¹¹ 3G quickly, to the disgruntlement of customers and shareholders¹². Others have proved more adept¹³ at providing other mobile services, such as search and music, than the operators were themselves.

　　3G服务拍卖适逢互联网发展的高潮，彼时购买电信信息技术产品的价格也有虚高之嫌。无线电通讯技术局还特地留了一手：加剧竞争和全线上调价格。进一步讲，用移动运营商们的总结来说，没有3G技术，他们就毫无生意可做。欧文研究所的马修·郝威特表示：“3G技术对运营商们来说生死攸关。”如果不能尽快完成3G服务的布局，运营商将带着顾客和股东们的不满从这个市场出局。而其他的参与者已经显示出他们比运营商本身更能玩转3G服务，比如他们能提供搜索和音乐等其他移动服务。

　　Last time, points out John Delaney of IDC, another research firm, the British spectrum auction was one of the first. This time bidders¹⁴ have been able to gauge¹⁵ the going rate from sales in France and Germany. As a group, they have ended up paying a little less—although, in a complicated process, some seem to have done better than others.

　　另一家研究所互联网数据中心的约翰·德兰尼指出，3G刚出来时，英国吃了第一只螃蟹，拍出了第一张频谱；而这一次投标人还能参考法国和德国的市场。德法联盟开出的价码更便宜，而且在某些复杂的程序上，德法做的更出色。

　　Britain was slower to start deploying¹⁶ 4G than many other countries, but its ministers, regulator and operators are keen to make up the ground. Having avoided overpaying, the operators can now get cracking.

　　比起其他许多国家，英国这次的4G拍照发放慢了一些。不过内阁大臣们、监管部门和运营商们都期待能有所作为。为了避免出价过高，运营商们已经在有所动作了。

　　1.fax machine 传真机

　　例句:Are you familiar with my fax machine?

　　你对我的传真机熟悉吗？

　　2.mobile network 移动网络

　　例句:Still, China's deployment¹⁷ of faster fourth-generation mobile network technology has created new business opportunities for Huawei.

　　不过，中国4G移动网络技术的推广给华为创造了新的业务机会。

　　3.information technology 信息技术

　　例句:Consumers in Europe are slow to pick up trends in the use of information technology.

　　欧洲消费者在辨别信息技术应用的潮流上表现迟缓。

　　4.spectrum auction 频谱拍卖

　　例句:The spectrum auction, which closed yesterday, and an earlier sale of third generation mobile spectrum that ended last month have netted India's exchequer$ 23bn.

　　昨日结束的4G频谱拍卖与上月结束的3G移动通信频谱拍卖，让印度政府净赚了230亿美元。

1 spectrum   

n.谱，光谱，频谱；范围，幅度，系列

参考例句：

• This is a kind of atomic spectrum.这是一种原子光谱。
• We have known much of the constitution of the solar spectrum.关于太阳光谱的构成，我们已了解不少。

2 auction   

n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖

参考例句：

• They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。
• They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。

3 bonanza   

n.富矿带，幸运，带来好运的事

参考例句：

• Bargain hunters enjoyed a real bonanza today.到处买便宜货的人今天真是交了好运。
• What a bonanza for the winning ticket holders!对于手持胜券的人来说，这是多好的运气啊。

4 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

5 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

6 exchequer   

n.财政部；国库

参考例句：

• In Britain the Chancellor of the Exchequer deals with taxes and government spending.英国的财政大臣负责税务和政府的开支。
• This resulted in a considerable loss to the exchequer.这使国库遭受了重大损失。

7 jointly   

ad.联合地，共同地

参考例句：

• Tenants are jointly and severally liable for payment of the rent. 租金由承租人共同且分别承担。
• She owns the house jointly with her husband. 她和丈夫共同拥有这所房子。

8 frenzy   

n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动

参考例句：

• He was able to work the young students up into a frenzy.他能激起青年学生的狂热。
• They were singing in a frenzy of joy.他们欣喜若狂地高声歌唱。

9 inflated   

adj.（价格）飞涨的；（通货）膨胀的；言过其实的；充了气的v.使充气（于轮胎、气球等）( inflate的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）膨胀；（使）通货膨胀；物价上涨

参考例句：

• He has an inflated sense of his own importance. 他自视过高。
• They all seem to take an inflated view of their collective identity. 他们对自己的集体身份似乎都持有一种夸大的看法。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 intensified   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Violence intensified during the night. 在夜间暴力活动加剧了。
• The drought has intensified. 旱情加剧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 deploy   

v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开

参考例句：

• The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
• The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。

12 shareholders   

n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The meeting was attended by 90% of shareholders. 90%的股东出席了会议。
• the company's fiduciary duty to its shareholders 公司对股东负有的受托责任

13 adept   

adj.老练的，精通的

参考例句：

• When it comes to photography,I'm not an adept.要说照相，我不是内行。
• He was highly adept at avoiding trouble.他十分善于避开麻烦。

14 bidders   

n.出价者，投标人( bidder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Bidders should proceed only if they intend on using a PayPal account to complete payment. Bidders的唯一形式，应继续只当他们在使用贝宝帐户，以完成付款打算。 来自互联网
• The other bidders for the contract complained that it had not been a fair contest. 其他竞标人抱怨说该合同的竞标不公平。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 gauge   

v.精确计量；估计；n.标准度量；计量器

参考例句：

• Can you gauge what her reaction is likely to be?你能揣测她的反应可能是什么吗？
• It's difficult to gauge one's character.要判断一个人的品格是很困难的。

16 deploying   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的现在分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Provides support for developing and deploying distributed, component-based applications. 为开发和部署基于组件的分布式应用程序提供支持。
• Advertisement, publishing, repair, and install-on-demand are all available when deploying your application. 在部署应用程序时提供公布、发布、修复和即需即装功能。

17 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。