Press release: Frequencies in 3,7 GHz band will be granted to 2 current and 2 new operators

Prague, 11 July 2017 – End of auction phase of the tender to grant rights of use of radio frequencies in 3600 – 3800 MHz band for high-speed data networks. Besides two current operators (O2 Czech Republic a.s. a Vodafone Czech Republic a.s.) there were two new successful operators in the tender: Nordic Telecom 5G a.s. and PODA a.s.

Current operators could gain a block allocation of maximum 40 MHz, whereas the spectral limit for new entrants was double. Nordic Telecom 5G a.s. took advantage of this condition of the tender and gained two auctioned blocks of total 80 MHz. The other companies have 1 block each. The tender was entered by six participants of which two, Suntel Net s.r.o. and T-Mobile Czech Republic a.s, did not place a winning bid for any auctioned block.

“The result of this successful tender shows that the telecommunication market is oriented towards the provision of data services which are the core of functional data economy.” says the chairman of the Council of CTU, Jaromír Novák, by noting that the frequencies in 3,7 GHz band are suitable in particular for the deployment of high-capacity mobile data networks and future development of 5G networks.

Each of the five auctioned blocks was sold for 203 million CZK, i.e. seven times the reserve price. In total the tender will bring to state budget 1,015 milliard CZK.

CTU expects to issue the decisions on block allocations immediately after the prices for the auctioned spectrum are settled by the success participants.