The Germany regulator had a rocky build-up to the current auction with legal challenges to its coverage requirements, and operator hostility to its decision to set aside spectrum for industrial players. However, now it is underway, the conventional aspect – the sale of exclusive mid-band spectrum licences to the MNOs – is following a familiar pattern of price inflation. After a lull, bidding accelerated on Wednesday and Thursday, making it likely that the four participants would have to pay high fees for their airwaves. At the start of the week, there was speculation that the auction could be one of the lowest ever in Germany, in terms of the revenue it generated for the Treasury, but an uptick in activity…