France’s telecoms regulator has revealed that bidding in its planned auction of 700-MHz spectrum will commence on 16 November.
Arcep made the announcement on Twitter on Tuesday, but did not provide any additional details. It has yet to announce who the auction participants will be.
Earlier this month Arcep confirmed that all four of France’s main mobile network operators had applied to take part in the process, but said it would evaluate their submissions to ensure they meet its eligibility criteria.
It explained that its examination would take around a month, which means we can expect to see a final list of bidders at the end of October or start of November.
France has set a reserve price of €416 million per 2×5 MHz block of 700-MHz spectrum, meaning that if all the frequencies are sold, the government will raise at least €2.5 billion.
That is significantly higher than the €1 billion Germany’s 700-MHz sale generated in June. Both countries have 2×30 MHz of 700 MHz spectrum available.
France’s mobile operators – Orange, Bouygues Telecom, Numericable-SFR and Free Mobile – will have different limits on the amount of 700-MHz spectrum they will be permitted to bid for, presuming they all take part in the contest.
No operator may win more than three blocks – or 2×15 MHz – of 700-MHz frequencies, but in addition, Arcep has capped the total amount of spectrum any player can hold across the 700 MHz, 800 MHz and 900 MHz bands at 2 x 30 MHz.
France is also rebalancing spectrum in the 1800 MHz band, essentially evening out the operators’ holdings.
Under a plan Arcep outlined in 2013, Orange, Numericable-SFR and Bouygues Telecom will each hold 20 MHz of 1800-MHz airwaves by 25 May 2016, while Free will have 15 MHz.
