The Spanish government has announced that it will start a new auction of spectrum in the 900MHz and 2.6GHz bands before 17 November.
In a statement, the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Commerce said that the auction would involve 24 blocks of…
The Spanish government has announced that it will start a new auction of spectrum in the 900MHz and 2.6GHz bands before 17 November.
In a statement, the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Commerce said that the auction would involve 24 blocks of spectrum (50MHz in total) that was not taken during the government’s last spectrum auction, which was completed in July.
The government said that it had set a total starting price of €189m (US$260m) for the 24 spectrum blocks available in the new auction.
Eight companies have been selected to participate in the auction. These include France Telecom, Telefonica, Vodafone, as well as three Spanish regional cable operators (Euskatel, R Cable, Telecable). The other two companies involved are Consorcio de Telecomunicaciones Avanzadas (COTA), a telecoms operator in the Murcia region of Spain, and Wimax Online, a Spanish WiMAX provider.
The government said that it had raised some of the limits on frequency that had been applied in the previous auction this summer.
In the new auction, a single operator will be able to hold up to a maximum of 25MHz of FDD spectrum in the 800MHz and 900MHz bands, and a maximum of 135MHz in the 1.8GHz, 2.1GHz and 2.6GHz bands.
In the auction earlier this year for spectrum in the 800MHz, 900MHz and 2.6GHz bands, the government raised €1.65bn (US$2.3bn at the current exchange rate), with France Telecom, Telefonica and Vodafone acquiring the majority of the blocks.
The government also raised €168m (US$231m) from a separate contest for spectrum in the 900MHz and 1.8GHz bands.
