Belgium: 5 operators to attend 5G spectrum auction
BIPT, Belgium telecom regulator, has cleared five mobile network operators for participating in 5G mobile license auction in June. The 5G spectrum auction will bring a fourth mobile operator into the market. 5g spectrum belgium
The government previously said it would encourage a fourth entrant to increase competition with the largest operator Proximus, Orange and Telenet’s BASE.
“Five mobile operators applied for the future auction and all were declared eligible after examination,” industry regulator IBPT-BIPT said in a statement. The spectrum auction would define Belgium’s mobile landscape for the next 20 years.
Belgian Institute for Postal Services and Telecommunications did not name the operators. The auction will cover the new main 5G licenses and existing 2G and 3G spectrum.
Belgium’s plans for a 5G auction were blocked for years by disagreements between federal and regional governments.
The radio frequency bands that are up for auction are in the 700 MHz, 900 MHz, 1400 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz and the 3400-3800 MHz frequency bands.
Today, the 900 MHz, 1800 MHz and 2100 MHz radio frequency bands are mostly used for 2G, 3G and 4G applications. Five candidacies have been submitted for these radio frequency bands, all of which have been deemed admissible.
The 700 MHz, 1400 MHz and 3600 MHz radio frequency bands are new radio frequency bands that will be the first to be used for the 5G technology. The 3400-3800 MHz band is considered to be the main radio frequency band for the roll-out of 5G. Also called “capacity band” for 5G at times, because of, among other things, the largely available spectrum in this band. For this radio frequency band as well five candidacies have been submitted and have been deemed admissible. In addition, the 5 candidates will have the opportunity to acquire spectrum for 5G at 700 MHz. This band is regarded as a “coverage band”, suitable for a national coverage and for a better indoor coverage.
The operators who are deemed admissible, will take part in the auction scheduled for June 2022, anonymously.
The names of the winners will only be made public after the auction, as well as the information regarding the radio spectrum assigned per operator for each of the radio spectrum bands to be auctioned. 5g spectrum belgium
