The sale of the 900 MHz and 1800 MHz frequency bands begins

Published: 16 October 2020

See all documents of this procedure
On 16 October, having taken feedback from market participants into account, the National Media and Infocommunications Authority (NMHH) finalised and published the final documentation containing the details of the auctioning procedure for the mobile frequency use entitlements for the 900 MHz and 1,800 MHz frequency bands scheduled to expire in the spring of 2022.

The Infocommunications Authority has made several amendments to the document containing the details on the sales procedure of the two frequency bands subsequent to processing the questions and comments of market participants made at a consultation on 29 September. As of the publishing on 16 October, the official auctioning procedure commenced, in which bids can be submitted for the parts of the frequencies that are currently used for mobile services.

The amendments do not bring about significant changes to the procedure and rules of the sale and only clarify the contents of the draft documentation. The most important amendments include changes to the conditions of personal participation at the auction: the Authority specified, amongst other things, the requirements on the network operation experience of applicants and removed the criteria related to the processing of personal data. Another important detail is that the NMHH has extended the deadline for the payment of the total auction fee by three weeks.

Applications for the auction can be submitted to the NMHH on the afternoon of 10 November. Applications shall be opened by the Infocommunications Authority in the presence of a notary public who will examine their formal validity and, if necessary, will request rectification of deficiencies. The NMHH plans to publish the list of participants whose applications pass the formal evaluation in December, on the day they are entered into the auction records. The auction will take place in early 2021, which will be preceded by a trial auction, to practice the procedure.

The frequency use entitlements of the three mobile operators currently providing services on the 900 MHz and 1,800 MHz frequency bands are scheduled to expire on 7 and 8 April 2022, respectively, which, similarly to the procedure of the 5G frequencies closed in the spring of this year, will be sold at an auction by the NMHH. The entitlements will be valid for fifteen years from 8 and 9 April 2022 and may be renewed once for five years.