Bulgaria’s Vivacom has issued a legal challenge to the regulator’s decision to allocate 5G spectrum frequencies without conducting a scheduled auction.
Telecoms authority the Communications Regulation Commission (CRC) had been due to sell 3.6GHz spectrum on 15th March via a ‘secret’ bid tender, but announced it had completed this process based on the applications for spectrum that it had already received.
According to local news outlet Capital, the CRC issued three 100MHz concessions with a validity period of 20 years. Licences cover one unpaired block within the band - 3500MHz-3600MHz, 3600MHz-3700MHz or 3700MHz-3800MHz. Vivacom has taken exception at being denied a choice over this, as it was aiming to increase its spectrum holding in the 3.7GHz to 3.8GHz range.
CRC Ivan Dimitrov was quoted by Capital as saying that a new secret bid could be arranged, and put the proposal to operators. TeleGeography meanwhile reported that the regulator was weighing up all available legal avenues before committing to new spectrum auctions.
