The National Media and Infocommunications Authority announces an auction related to the entitlements of frequency use of the 900 MHz and 1800 MHz frequency bands
1. The auction (hereinafter: auction procedure) will be started ex officio on the day of the release of this announcement, that is, on 16 October 2020. Case number of the auction procedure: UF/25112/2020.
2. The auction procedure is an administrative case and an administrative procedure within the scope of authority of the Office of the National Media and Infocommunications Authority (hereinafter: Auctioneer).
The rules set out in Act C of 2003 on Electronic Communications and Act CL of 2016 on the General Rules of Administrative Proceedings and Services shall apply to the auction procedure.
NMHH Decree 4/2011 (X. 6.) on the rules of auction or tender for obtaining entitlement of frequency use (hereinafter: Ápszr.) contains the detailed rules of the auction procedure.
3. The detailed rules and conditions of the auction procedure are set forth in the tender notice documentation (hereinafter referred to as the Documentation) drawn up by the Auctioneer.
4. While the Documentation is available to the public and free to download on the Auctioneer’s website (https://english.nmhh.hu/900-1800_MHz_auction_procedure_documentation), only persons and entities officially registered as stipulated herein may submit written questions about the Documentation, as allowed for in Section 8. (1) of the Ápszr.
Registration is allowed from the date of publication of the Notice until the application deadline. Written questions regarding the Documentation received up to the 10th day prior to the application deadline shall be replied to by the Auctioneer within eight days so as to ensure that the applicant will have at least two days from the answer to the expiry of the application deadline.
The joint condition of registration is to download and fill out the Data Sheet available on the Auctioneer’s website (https://english.nmhh.hu/registration_data_sheet_900-1800_MHz_auction), then to submit the completed Data Sheet to any of the contact details of the Auctioneer listed in Section (20) of the Documentation, as well as providing proof of payment of the registration fee.
If any of these conditions are not met, the registration is invalid. The Auctioneer shall register those registered in accordance with the conditions set out in the Documentation, and shall notify the registered parties of the fact of such registration. In case of incomplete or otherwise inadequate registration, the Auctioneer shall inform the initiator of the registration by identifying the deficiencies.
The amount of the registration fee is HUF 100,000 + VAT, totaling HUF 127,000 (one hundred and twenty seven thousand Forints).
The registration fee shall be transferred to the Auctioneer’s account number 10032000-00300939-00000017 held at the Hungarian State Treasury, specifying: „MFCN2020 regisztráció” (MFCN2020 registration).
5. Subject of the auction procedure
Subjects of the auction procedure are the following frequency ranges as stipulated in NMHH decree 7/2015 (XI. 13.) on the national frequency allocation and the rules of using frequency bands (hereinafter: NFFF):
- the 880-915/925-960 MHz frequency band (900 MHz frequency band) and
- the 1710-1785/1805-1880 MHz (1800 MHz frequency band)
The following lots can be bid for during the Auction:
| Name of frequency band | Number of lots | Frequency amounts offered for sale in total |
|---|---|---|
| 900 MHz | 2x20 MHz (that is 40 MHz) in turn 1 In the case of turn 2: in case of block complementation: |
6x2x5 MHz or 4x2x5 MHz and 1x2x4 MHz and 2x2x3 MHz that is 60 MHz in total |
| 1800 MHz | 12 lots of duplex 5 MHz each | 12x2x5 MHz, that is 120 MHz |
Having fulfilled all other statutory conditions, the participant successfully acquiring the entitlement of frequency use may install and operate radio systems for providing electronic communications services in compliance with the terms of the frequency use licence.
The detailed description of frequency bands forming the subject of the auction procedure and the rules on their use are set out in the Documentation, in particular those laid down in Annex 1 thereto, as well as legislation governing frequency use (in particular, the NFFF).6. The (quantitative) limits on the acquisition of entitlements of frequency use are set out in the NFFF and the Documentation.
7. The frequencies available in the context of the procedure can be put into use from the following dates:
| Frequency band | Availability |
|---|---|
| 900 MHz | The earliest start dates of the validity, temporal scope of the radio licences issued based on the entitlements of frequency use acquired as a result of the auction procedure are 8 and 9 April 2022. |
| 1800 MHz | The earliest start dates of the validity, temporal scope of the radio licences issued based on the entitlements of frequency use acquired as a result of the auction procedure are 8 and 9 April 2022. |
The duration of all entitlements of frequency use obtainable in this procedure are regulated by Section (32) of the Documentation; according to the general rule stipulated therein, the expiry date for all entitlements is: 9 April 2037
The duration of the entitlements of frequency use may be extended once by an additional five (5) years, until 9 April 2042, without a competitive procedure, with unchanged contract terms and conditions as incorporated in a decision issued in closing the auction procedure, and without the payment of an additional one-time fee. The detailed rules regarding the procedure for extending entitlements of frequency use are described in Section 2.2.3.1 of the Documentation.
The procedural rules on secondary trading in entitlements of frequency use (rights) acquired in the auction procedure are laid down in NMHH Decree 7/2013. (IX. 19.) on the secondary trade of radio frequencies.
8. The reserved price of one lot per frequency band
| Frequency | Reserved price | |
|---|---|---|
| in munbers | in letters | |
| 900 MHz – turn 1 | HUF 12,000,000,000 | twelve billion forints |
| 900 MHz – turn 2 | HUF 12,000,000,000 | twelve billion forints |
| 1800 MHz | HUF 6,000,000,000 | six billion forints |
Prices do not include VAT, and pursuant to Article 7 of Act CXXVII of 2007 on value added tax, the full auction fee due is VAT-exempt due to the public authority activity nature of the auction procedure.
9. 10. Applicants to the auction procedure shall pay a participation fee of HUF 50,000,000 + VAT, that is a total of HUF 63,500,000 (sixty-three million, five hundred thousand forints), in accordance with the rules set out in Section 3.11 of the Documentation.
10. Applications of applicants can be submitted in person on 10 November 2020 between 13:30 and 16:30 at the following address of the Auctioneer, taking into account the requirements for format and content specified in the Documentation:
National Media and Infocommunications Authority
Address: 1015 Budapest, Ostrom utca 23-25.
11. For the personal criteria for participating in the auction procedure as well as the formal validity requirements and mandatory content of the application, see the Ápszr. and the Documentation.
Budapest, 20 October 2020