The Irish multi-frequency spectrum auction concluded on November 15th raising a respectable 854€ million ($1.1 billion) from four bidders on licenses for 280 MHz in the 800, 900, and 1800 MHz bands. Earlier this month, on December 14th, the Dutch multi-frequency auction of about 360 MHz netted the regulator over 3.8€ billion ($4.97 billion).
Both regulators did not report the price paid on a per-band/license basis. But on average, the Irish spectrum is priced at about 0.48 euro-cent per MHz-PoP (0.61₵), while the Dutch auction is priced at 0.63 euro-cent per MHz-PoP (0.83₵).
| Ireland Spectrum Auction – November 15, 2012 | |||||
| Duration |
Hutchinson 3G Ireland |
Meteor Mobile Communications |
Telefonica Ireland |
Vodafone Ireland |
|
| 800 MHz: 791 ‐ 821 MHz / 832 ‐ 862 MHz | 2013-2015 |
– |
2×10 MHz |
2×10 MHz |
2×10 MHz |
| 2015-2030 |
– |
2×10 MHz |
2×10 MHz |
2×10 MHz |
|
| 900 MHz: 880 ‐ 915 MHz / 925 ‐ 960 MHz | 2013-2015 |
2×5 MHz |
2×5 MHz |
2×10 MHz |
2×10 MHz |
| 2015-2030 |
2×5 MHz |
2×10 MHz |
2×10 MHz |
2×10 MHz |
|
| 1800 MHz: 1710 ‐ 1785 MHz / 1805 ‐ 1880 MHz | 2013-2015 |
2×10 MHz |
2×10 MHz |
– |
2×15 MHz |
| 2015-2030 |
2×20 MHz |
2×15 MHz |
2×15 MHz |
2×25 MHz |
|
|
Final Upfront Fees (€, million) |
51.14 |
144.78 |
124.93 |
160.85 |
|
|
Total Spectrum Usage Fees (€, million) |
53.87 |
99.64 |
99.64 |
119.79 |
|
|
Total (€, million) |
854.64 |
||||
|
Total €/MHz-PoP |
0.48 |
||||
|
Total $/MHz-PoP |
0.61 |
||||
In the Dutch auction, KPN and Vodafone obtained similar sized licenses in 800, 900, 1800, and 2100 MHz bands, while KPN obtained an additional 30 MHz in 2.6 GHz band. As Vodafone paid a higher price (by 29€ million) for the less spectrum, it only means that the 2.6 GHz unpaired band is valued at a very low price. Moreover, one can also surmise the 1900 unpaired band that T-Mobile obtained also has a low value.
| Netherlands Spectrum Auction – December 14, 2012 | |||||
| Duration | KPN | Tele2 | T-Mobile | Vodafone | |
| 800 MHz: 791 ‐ 821 MHz / 832 ‐ 862 MHz | 17 Yrs | 2×10 MHz: 811-821 MHz / 852-862 MHz | 2×10 MHz: 791-801 MHz / 832-842 MHz |
– |
2×10 MHz: 801-811 MHz / 842-852 MHz |
| 900 MHz: 880 ‐ 915 MHz / 925 ‐ 960 MHz | 17 Yrs | 2×10 MHz: 890-900 MHz / 935-945 MHz |
– |
2×15 MHz: 900-915 MHz / 945-960 MHz | 2×10 MHz: 880-890 MHz / 925-935 MHz |
| 1800 MHz: 1710 ‐ 1785 MHz / 1805 ‐ 1880 MHz | 17 Yrs | 2×20 MHz: 1710-1730 MHz / 1805-1825 MHz |
– |
2×30 MHz: 1750-1780 MHz / 1845-1875 MHz | 2×20 MHz: 1730-1750 MHz / 1825-1845 MHz |
| 1900 MHz (unpaired) | 4 Yrs |
– |
– |
1×14.6 MHz: 1900-1904.9 & 2010-2019.7 MHz |
– |
| 2100 MHz | 4 Yrs | 2×5 MHz: 1959.7-1964.7 MHz / 2149.7-2154.7 MHz |
– |
2×5 MHz: 1964.7-1969.7 MHz / 2154.7-2159.7 MHz | |
| 2600 MHz (unpaired) | 17 Yrs | 1×30 MHz: 2590-2620 MHz |
– |
1×25 MHz: 2565-2590 MHz |
– |
|
Total Fees (€) |
1,351,852,000 |
160,813,000 |
910,681,000 |
1,380,800,000 |
|
|
Total Bandwidth Acquired (MHz) |
120 |
20 |
129.6 |
90 |
|
|
€/MHz-PoP |
0.67 |
0.48 |
0.42 |
0.92 |
|
|
Total (€, million) |
3,804 |
||||
|
Total €/MHz-PoP |
0.63 |
||||
|
Total $/MHz-PoP |
0.83 |
||||