German Spectrum Auction Yields €4.4 Billion

Finally, the German spectrum auction for everything between 800 MHz and 2.6 GHz assigned for cellular services has ended. While the media mostly reports the €4.4 billion as a disappointment for the German government, I personally think it's more than enough for a few pieces of thin air. And, as a side note, compared to the sums paid in the Netherlands and in the Nordic countries, it's a respectable sum. Now it's in the hands of the four incumbent mobile network operators to make the best use of their new spectrum in the coming years. For the details on who has acquired what have a look here.

Comments

[Paul]

What do you think about the fact that KPN ended up with no 800Mhz spectrum? Will they be at a disadvantage to the other three operators?

[mobilesociety]

Hi Paul,

I think they will continue to be the challenger in the market. And in addition they have achieved two major points in the auction that will help them with their strategy:

First, they have acquired two additional UMTS 2.1 GHz blocks so they hold four UMTS 2.1 GHz blocks now, more than any of the other network operators. So should they at some point decide to build a proper high speed 3G network theyve got great spectrum there and a zillion devices will work on it from day one.

The downside of not having 800 MHz spectrum is that it will be more difficult for them to cover rural areas with high speed wireless networks compared to those who have such spectrum. But as a compensation, and that is the second point that will help them, is that they had to spend €1 billion less in the spectrum auction. That is a big amount of money they can invest in additional base stations or use to lower prices or do a mix of both.

So I am quite optimistic we will continue to see a vibrant wireless space in Germany.

Cheers,
Martin