New Zealand’s communications ministry has disclosed details of the country’s upcoming 4G auction, scheduled to start on 29 October.
Nine lots of 2×5 MHz in the 700 MHz spectrum band will be auctioned with a reserve price set at NZ$22m (US$17.3m) for…
New Zealand’s communications ministry has disclosed details of the country’s upcoming 4G auction, scheduled to start on 29 October.
Nine lots of 2×5 MHz in the 700 MHz spectrum band will be auctioned with a reserve price set at NZ$22m (US$17.3m) for each slot. The frequencies were freed up by the switchover to digital television.
Commenting on the auction, communications minister Amy Adams said that “in setting the reserve price, we have balanced generating a fair return on the sale of the spectrum rights with the significant investment required by mobile network operators to build the 4G network infrastructure.”
Initially, bidders will be limited to applying for a maximum of three lots each but this cap may be increased to four in case some spectrum is left over after the first auction round closes.
The tender is also open to new and non-mobile operators beside New Zealand’s existing wireless players – Vodafone; Telecom New Zealand; and 2degrees – which already provide some 4G services. The bidder registration is expected to open on 11 September.
Rollout conditions include the necessity for operators to upgrade at least 75% of their existing rural 2G and 3G mobile infrastructure to 4G capability within five years. Successful bidders without an existing network will have until 2018 to deploy services to at least 50% of the New Zealand population.
“These requirements are designed to ensure that at least 90% of New Zealanders have access to a 4G network and faster mobile broadband coverage within five years,” Adams said.
The 4G auction is facing opposition from the Maori population, which claims ownership over the spectrum, referring to the Treaty of Waitangi, according to local reports. The treaty, signed in 1840, recognised Maori ownership over unspecified lands and other resources.
The case is currently before the Waitangi Tribunal but Adams had previously been quoted as saying that she believed the treaty does not give the Maori population rights to the spectrum.
