France: 5G spectrum auction brings €2.8bn
October 2, 2020
From Pascale Paoli-Lebailly in Paris
The 5G spectrum auction by French telecom regulatory body Arcep has seen French operators spend €2.78 billion.
Orange has won the highest quantity among the eleven 10MHz lots of 5G frequencies in the GHz 3.4-3.8 band, paying €854 million. Its total range of frequencies, (including previous allocations) total 257MHz, the largest on the market.
SFR paid €728 million for 80 MHz, whilst Bouygues Telecom and Free have spent €602 million each for 40MHz.
The French State will collect these investments over a four-year period. No operator could obtain more than 100MHZ. Arcep declared this auction had been “very fruitful as it shows the operator’s engagement to strongly invest in France”
Before the theee-day auction, the four candidates had already been granted a 50MHz frequency lot each, for a total price of €350 million.