The Italian spectrum auction closed yesterday after Italian incumbent Telecom Italia and mobile operators Vodafone and Wind Telecomunicazioni each spent over E1bn on spectrum blocks.
The auction was offering spectrum in the 800MHz, 1.8GHz, 2GHz and…
The Italian spectrum auction closed yesterday after Italian incumbent Telecom Italia and mobile operators Vodafone and Wind Telecomunicazioni each spent over E1bn on spectrum blocks.
The auction was offering spectrum in the 800MHz, 1.8GHz, 2GHz and 2.6GHz band. All the spectrum blocks were taken, aside from one 2GHz block which is still available.
Telecom Italia was the biggest spender, offering a total of just over E1.26bn for 2 blocks in the 800MHz band, one block in the 1.8GHz band and three blocks in the 2.6GHz band.
Contacted by TelecomFinance the company did not wish to give any further details at this stage.
Vodafone spent just under E1.26bn for two blocks in the 800MHz band, one block in the 1.8GHz band and three blocks in the 2.6GHz band.
Vodafone said in a statement that the spectrum award will support Vodafone Italy’s plans to develop the next generation of wireless data services using LTE technology. “The additional spectrum and ongoing network investments will enable Vodafone Italy to build on its success in delivering mobile internet services to its customers,” it said.
The company said that its mobile data revenue had grown by 22% in the past financial year.
Wind Telecomunicazioni, a subsidiary of Vimpelcom, spent just under E1.2bn on two blocks in the 800MHz band and four blocks in the 2.6GHz band.
Vimpelcom said that the spectrum award will allow Wind to launch LTE services in the coming years.
It said that Wind will be required to pay E682m within 30 days of the completion of the auction, with the remaining amount to be paid in five yearly instalments.
It added that that the first spectrum payment will be funded by cash in hand and will draw down on a E600m bridge loan facility available to Wind and provided by a group of international banks.
The fourth contender in the auction process was 3 Italia, the mobile operator owned by Hong Kong-based conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa.
It spent over E305m on one block in the 1.8GHz band and four blocks in the 2.6GHz band.
3 Italia CEO Vincenzo Novari said that he was “really satisfied” with the result. “[A]s an important market dynamics observer such as JP Morgan has acknowledged, the frequencies that we obtained are enough to ensure the LTE infrastructure roll-out and the data traffic volume required by the market for several years to come,” he said.
The Italian authorities raised a total of E3.945bn in the spectrum auction.
