News item | 14-02-2024 | 9:00 am
From February 15, 2024, interested parties from home and abroad can submit an application to participate in the auction of national 5G networks. The auction itself is expected to take place before the summer, so that mobile telecom providers can normally use the frequencies from August 1, 2024. Minister Micky Adriaansens (Economic Affairs and Climate) has regulations published including the design and minimum proceeds (170 million euros) of the Dutch auction of national frequencies for fast mobile communications.
There is room for at least three telecom companies in the so-called 3.5 Gigahertz frequency band. After the auction, they can offer fast internet via 5G technology to companies, organizations and consumers everywhere in the Netherlands. In this 3.5 GHz band, 2×50 Megahertz (of the total 400) also remains available for private, local 5G networks. Companies and other organizations can do this themselves or in collaboration virtual reality or control smart, complex devices such as self-driving vehicles or robots in factories.
The Rotterdam court ruled in favor of the Minister of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy in November 2023 in all eight appeals against the plan for this 3.5 GHz band. The parties have not appealed to the Trade Appeals Board, so that the auction preparations can continue.
Minister Micky Adriaansens (EZK): “It is good for Dutch consumers and companies that we can finally realize our ambitions in the field of digital mobile infrastructure. Data traffic in the Netherlands is increasing sharply. To cope with the growth of digital business processes, services and products, the construction of improved national 5G networks is necessary. Because space for this is scarce, we are going to auction it.”
Set up auction of national 5G networks
Before the auction, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy has decided that participating market parties will have access to a maximum of forty percent of the total available frequencies. This also applied to the previous auction in 2020. This means that there will be at least three providers of public, fast mobile communications such as via 5G in the 3.5 GHz band. In this way, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy guarantees that there remains sufficient competition in the telecom market that leads to quality, innovation and reasonable prices for consumers and companies. There is also a commissioning obligation for each permit.
The permits are divided into one multi-round clock auction. Participants bid on the number of permits they want at increasing prices, until supply and demand are exactly the same. Afterwards, the Minister of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy will announce the winning parties and make the entire bidding process public. The total term of the permits is more than sixteen years.
At the previous auction in 2020, the government already established high-quality mobile coverage with a coverage requirement on 98% of the area of each Dutch municipality. Standards also apply for the minimum speed at the extreme edges of a mobile network. These requirements bring the Dutch mobile internet speed to an average of more than 100 Mbps (Megabit per second), allowing consumers and companies to work, do business and communicate undisturbed. The maximum speed near a network antenna is even twenty times higher (above 2 Gigabit per second).