Germany’s spectrum auction came to a close on Friday after more than three weeks and 181 rounds of bidding, raising €5.08 billion for government coffers.
Vodafone emerged as the biggest spender in the contest, committing €2.09 billion for spectrum in all four of the available bands, regulatory body Bundesnetzagentur announced.
The operator raised the stakes earlier this week by making hefty bids on the 700 MHz frequencies. At the end of round 172 on Thursday Vodafone was the top bidder for all six lots of 700-MHz spectrum. Its rivals responded and by the end of the day the 700 MHz band had attracted over €1 billion in bids – having been stagnant at just over €450 million for most of the contest – pushing the overall auction total above the €5 billion mark.
Vodafone won 10 MHz each of paired 700-MHz and 900-MHz spectrum, 2 x 25 MHz of 1800-MHz spectrum, and 20 MHz of unpaired airwaves in t he 1500 MHz band.
Incumbent Deutsche Telekom pledged €1.79 billion to secure similar spectrum to Vodafone. It matched Vodafone’s holdings in the 700 MHz and 1500 MHz bands, but picked up 2 x 15 MHz of both 900-MHz and 1800-MHz spectrum. The third participant, Telefonica, elected not to bid for 1500-MHz spectrum. It agreed to pay €1.2 billion for 2 x 10 MHz each of 700-MHz, 900-MHz and 1800-MHz frequencies.
"We are satisfied with the outcome of the auction," said Niek Jan van Damme, managing director of Deutsche Telekom’s German business, in a statement.
The operator said it will use its 900-MHz airwaves to boost its GSM network, while the 1500 MHz and 1800 MHz bands will enable it to increase broadband coverage in urban areas. The 700-MHz spectrum will enable it to improve rural coverage.
"With the award of the 700 MHz band, Germany takes a leading role in Europe and is a pioneer in the development of mobile broadband," Deutsche Telekom said.
Germany is the first market in Western Europe to auction off the 700 MHz band, that is currently being used by TV broadcasters.
Deutsche Telekom said it expects its 700-MHz spectrum to be fully usable for mobile from 2019.
