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All three major mobile operators won spectrum, with Italy’s EOLO also picking up a national licence
Croatia has today announced the conclusion of its 5G frequency auction, raising HRK 358.9 million (€48 million).
The auction saw the sale of frequencies in the 700MHz, 3.6GHz, and 26GHz bands, both on a national and regional basis, with permits issued for 15 years in almost all cases.
Unsurprisingly, it was the country’s three major mobile operators, Hrvatski Telekom, A1 Hrvatska, and Telemach Hrvatska, that took home the largest piece of the spectrum pie, with the amount of spectrum won broadly similar for each of them.
In the 700MHz band, all three operators took home national licences, with Hrvatski Telekom, A1 Hrvatska, and Telemach Hrvatska paying HRK 49 million, HRK 45 million and HRK 46.1 million, respectively.
The trio also all won nationwide licences in the 3.6 GHz band, here paying HRK 66.7 million, HRK 53 million, and HRK 54.4 million, respectively.
Finally, in the nationwide 26 GHz band, the trio once again all won spectrum, with Hrvatski Telekom paying HRK 15 million, Telemach Hrvatska paying HRK 7.7 million, and A1 Hrvatska paying HRK 7.5 million. Here, however, we saw a new player enter the fray, with Italy’s fixed wireless access (FWA) specialist EOLO purchasing as 200 MHz block of 26 GHz spectrum, also for HRK 7.5 million.
When it came to regional 3.6 GHz licences, numerous smaller, regional players took home spectrum, including BeeIN, Digicom, Eco Net, Markoja, Terrakom, and EOLO once again.
With a nationwide 26GHz licence and numerous regional 3.6 GHz licences under its belt, EOLO could be poised to become a new major player in the Croatian mobile market.
For now, however, Hrvatski Telekom has a considerable lead in 5G, having already launched services last year using its existing spectrum holdings and facilitated by dynamic spectrum sharing. A1 and Telemach are set to activate their 5G networks as soon as possible.
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