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Sweden Sells Service-Neutral Spectrum
(08 May 2008, BWCS Staff)Sweden has followed neighbor Norway's example and auctioned off a series of technology neutral blocks of wireless spectrum. The Swedish telecoms regulator, the PTS, completed the auction of spectrum in the 2.6GHz band this week. In total the sale raised SKr2.1 billion (euros 225.4 million) for the government. In the end, five companies were successful after a bidding battle that lasted 16 days.
The total block of 190MHz of spectrum was awarded on a technology neutral basis and the licences will last for 15 years. Mobile operator 3 won two 10MHz chunks of spectrum and agreed to pay SKr 296.6 million (euros 31.9 million), while Intel bought 50MHz TDD for SKr159.25 million (euros 17.1 million). Tele2 bought two 20MHz blocks for SKr548.1 million (euros 58.8 million), Norwegian rival Telenor purchased two 20MHz blocks for SKr533 million (euros 57.2 million) and TeliaSonera won a couple of 20MHz sections for SKr562.45 million (euros 60.4 million).
In November last year, Norway became the first European country to successfully auction off "technology neutral" licences. The Norwegian government sold off five blocks of spectrum in the 2.6GHz band for a total of NKr228.9 million (euros 28.94 million). The five winning bidders were: Telenor, Arctic Wireless, Craig Wireless Systems, Hafslund Telekom and NetCom and Telenor. Each licence is valid for 15 years. A licence for the band 2010-2025 MHz was sold to Inquam Broadband for NKr1 million (euros 0.12 million).
The bidding, which began on the 7th of November 2007, lasted just under seven days. While the government did not say how each licence winner plans to use their spectrum, it has indicated that the demand for unpaired spectrum for WiMax was higher than the demand for paired spectrum for cellular 3G systems.
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