On August 31 2011 the Ministry of Economic Development formally began the auction process for the assignment of new fourth-generation (4G) mobile telecommunications frequencies. A few days previously, the ministry had ended industry speculation by announcing the companies that had submitted applications, including Vodafone, Wind Telecommunicazioni, Telecom Italia and H3G.
The initial offers totalled €2.3 billion; the auction's structure, with a series of bidding rounds, allows participants to raise bids by a minimum of 3%. By the end of the third day of the auction, which saw re-bids from all participants, the total stood at over €2.52 billion. This rose to nearly €2.98 billion by the end of the fifth day, closing in on the €3.1 billion that the government has reportedly set as a target. The results of the auction will provide strong indications of the future make-up of the 4G market in Italy and, in turn, the likely development of advanced services for smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices that rely on 4G's higher internet connection speeds.
The frequencies being auctioned are as follows:
- in the 800 megahertz (MHz) band - six lots of frequency division duplex (FDD) frequencies, with a bandwidth equal to 5 MHz in paired spectrum, assignable on a national basis;
- in the 1,800 MHz band - three lots of FDD frequencies, with a bandwidth equal to 5 MHz in paired spectrum, assignable on a national basis;
- in the 2,000 MHz band - one lot of time division duplex (TDD) frequencies with a bandwidth equal to 15 MHz, assignable on a national basis; and
- in the 2,600 MHz band - 12 lots of FDD frequencies, with a bandwidth equal to 5 MHz in paired spectrum, assignable on a national basis, and two lots of TDD frequencies with a bandwidth equal to 15 MHz, assignable on a national basis, (with the exception of the 2,500 MHz to 2,510 MHz and 2,620Mhz to 2,630 MHz bands for the FDD lots and the 2,600 MHz to 2,620 MHz band for the TDD lots).
For further information on this topic please contact Vittorio Noseda or Carlo Grignani at NCTM Studio Legale Associato by telephone (+39 02 72 5511), fax (+39 02 72 55 1501) or email ([email protected] or [email protected]).