NTL calls time out on mobile auction

NTL, the UK's biggest cable company, yesterday called an 11th hour halt to the high-stakes auction for the next generation mobile licences, prompting speculation that it was about to retire from the eight-week-old race.

As the total amount bid for the coveted five licences reached almost £22.5bn, a spokesman for NTL, which is backed by France Telecom, said: "We've exercised our right [to request a recess]. Don't read anything into that."

But analysts said the group was unlikely to return to the bidding, which will not begin again until tomorrow. This would leave the four existing operators - Vodafone AirTouch, BT, Orange and One2One - and Canada's TIW consortium free to claim the licences, they said.

At the close of yesterday's auction, the highest bid on the table was from Vodafone, which has offered £5.96bn for licence B, the best available to an incumbent player. The bid for licences C to E were led by BT, One2One and Orange respectively, each having placed bids of just over £4bn. TIW is leading NTL in the race for licence A, which is reserved for a newcomer, with an offer of £4.38bn.

Yesterday's proceedings got off to a late start following a glitch in the phone systems at the Radiocommunications Agency, which is handling the auction on behalf of the Government.

A spokesman said the two-and-a half hour delay was due to a "simple software error" which occurred during checks in the run-up to the change in phone codes in central London and which prevented the agency from making outgoing calls or sending faxes.