France: 5G spectrum auction starts
September 29, 2020
From Pascale Paoli-Lebailly in Paris
French telecom regulator Arcep has launched the country’s 5G spectrum auction which had been delayed as result of the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown.
Operators Bouygues, Orange, Free and SFR are the four players taking part to the bidding which will allocate the eleven 10MHz lots still available into the GHz 3,4-3,8 frequency band.
The four candidates are already granted one 50 MHz frequency lot. The minimum price by lot, fixed by the French government, is €350 million.
The auction will give them the potential to add frequencies, in a limit of five lots, and the reserve price has been determined at €70 million per 10MHz lot. At the end of the process, each candidate won’t be able to get more than a total of 100 MHz. The full bidding could bring the French State €2 billion.