France’s telecoms regulator has set a reserve price of €2.5 billion on the 700-MHz spectrum it is due to auction in the fourth quarter of this year.
Arcep on Friday said it has submitted its draft prop osals for the auction to the country’s electronic communications advisory committee, or CCCE. It plans to set out its final proposals in July, once it has received feedback from the CCCE, and the government will open the call for applications later that month.
Working in conjunction with government ministers, the regulator has set a reserve price of €416 million per 2 x 5 MHz block of spectrum. With 30 MHz of spectrum available, that translates to revenues of at least €2.5 billion for the government, presuming all six blocks sell.
The available frequencies have been split six ways "so that spectrum can be allocated to a large number of candidates," Arcep said.
There are still four network operators battling it out in France’s mobile market.
The smallest of the four, Iliad’s Free Mobile, has been lobbying for the state to cap the amount of sub-1 GHz spectrum that each operator is permitted to hold, a move that its rivals naturally point out would benefit Free in the upcoming auction.
Arcep has chosen to limit the amount of 700-MHz spectrum any one operator may win to three blocks, or 2 x 15 MHz. In addition, it has capped the amount of spectrum an operator may hold across the 700 MHz, 800 MHz and 900 MHz bands to 2 x 30 MHz.
The regulator also noted that the spectrum will come with coverage obligations designed to promote its use for providing services in rural areas.
Arcep’s announcement came on the same day that Germany’s latest spectrum auction was concluded.
The contest raised €5.08 billion in total, just over €1 billion of which was spent on the 700 MHz band.
Vodafone, Deutsche Telekom and Telefonica each won 2 x 10 MHz of 700-MHz spectrum, with prices per 5 MHz block ranging from €165.5 million to €171.6 million, significantly below the minimum price set in France.
Would-be participants will have until the end of the third quarter of the year to submit their applications. Arcep plans to carry out the auction in Q4 and award licences before the end of the year.
