The early 5G-focused spectrum auctions are important to provide indicators about the likely pricing of the airwaves, which will help MNOs firm up their business cases. As usual at the start of any auction in Europe, since the massively inflated prices of many 3G sales in the region two decades ago, there have been protestations that history would not repeat itself this time. Governments claim they are more interested in accelerating 5G deployment than lining their pockets; MNOs claim they will refuse to bid if fees go too high. But the result of the recent 3.5 GHz auction in Italy shows how, once the process starts, such claims often disappear out of the window. In the past, midband, mainly unpaired…