The third part of Estonia’s 3.5GHz 5G auctions appears to be over, but with much less excitement than the other two; operator Tele2 had no opposition to its bid on the first or second day.
Tele2 won the third auctioned 5G license at the reserve price of €1.597 million (about US$1.62 million). As this was the highest bid for the 3410-3800 MHz frequency band Tele2 can start building its network once the license fee and state fee have been paid.
However, not only was this the highest bid; it was the only bid. The auction was open to companies that had not had a winning bid in the first or second auctions, but the remaining competitor, Lithuania-based telecoms and media firm Bite Group, decided not to submit a bid, making what was expected to be an intense bidding process rather short.
Estonia’s regulator received four applications for its spectrum auction of three 3.5GHz licences for 5G services back in April. These licenses have now been won by the three incumbent mobile network operators: Telia, Elisa and Tele2.
As we reported, Elisa won the first available concession in Estonia’s 3.5GHz spectrum auctions in late May with a bid of €7.206 million (US$7.756 million). This was way above the reserve price of €1.597 million US$1.62 million).
The second licence went to Telia on 15 July for €8.50 million (US$8.62).Bite Group appears to have missed out – at least so far.
According to TeleGeography's CommsUpdate six more auctions will be held in the autumn for the next 5G frequency band (694-790 MHz). This frequency range is said to be suitable for covering lower population density and rural areas with 5G. Each participant is able to win a maximum of two concessions.
