At the second attempt, the Czech regulator CTU has succeeded in auctioning LTE spectrum in three bands, though it has failed to achieve its goal of ushering in a new operator.
Incumbents T-Mobile, Telefonica and Vodafone won licences in the 800MHz, 1.8GHz and 2.6GHz bands and have 30 months to cover almost 50% of telecoms districts, including specified areas of sparse population. However, CTU did not sell a fourth 800MHz licence, something it had said, only in August, that it was determined to do, to support a new operator. It had promised to set aside some spectrum in the much coveted low frequency band, possibly at a discounted price, to boost competition, but faced intense opposition from the three established cellcos.
The regulator cancelled the original auction process in March, when bids rose to almost three times the reserve price of CZK7.4bn ($373.6m), reaching over CZK20bn, prompting fears that the hefty outlay would limit operators’ ability to roll out networks, or that they would pass on the charges to their customers in high LTE fees.
New competition in Czech Republic will now rely on MVNOs, which are to be allowed access to the LTE networks. T-Mobile acquired 800MHz blocks in the A1 and A2 categories for a total of CZK2.231bn; Telefonica won two A2 blocks for CZK2.386bn; and Vodafone bought block A3 for CZK2.664bn. Each player also acquired four blocks in the FDD 2.6GHz band and a portion of blocks in the 1.8GHz B2 category. In total, T-Mobile will pay CZK2.614bn, Telefonica CZK2.802bn and Vodafone CZK 3.113bn.
Some blocks in 1.8GHz and 2.6GHz remain unallocated and the CTU is consulting on how to assign those during early 2014.