The latest spectrum licences have been awarded in the mobile-hungry Nordic region, with 4G auctions concluding in Norway, where third cellco Tele2 lost out to newcomer Telco Data.
The Norwegian Post & Telecoms Authority (NPT) has closed the first phase of its sale of spectrum in the 800MHz, 900MHz and 1.8GHz bands. The winners are Telenor, TeliaSonera (under its NetCom brand) and Telco Data. While the big two cellcos will have additional frequencies to play with, third cellco Tele2, and its Network Norway joint venture, missed out.
The three main operators already have LTE spectrum in 2.6GHz and Norway was one of the first countries to get commercial 4G services, initially from TeliaSonera.
Telenor and NetCom will get 2’10MHz in the 800MHz, 2’5MHz in the 900MHz band and 2’10MHz in the 1.8GHz band. Newcomer Telco Data gets 2’10MHz in the 800MHz band, 2’5MHz in 900MHz and 2’20MHz in 1.8GHz. All available spectrum in the sub-1GHz bands has now been allocated, but 2x5MHz blocks in 1.8GHz went unsold.
The 800MHz licences come with coverage obligations, and all three operators will have to provide mobile broadband services with average access speeds of at least 2Mbps to 40% of the population within four years of the award of licences. NetCom, having won the ‘A2’ block in the 800MHz band, has the additional obligation to cover 98% of the population with 2Mbps services within five years, and with these services being primarily supported by 800MHz.
The specific frequency position of the blocks in each band will be decided in the final phase of the auction through a second bidding round, starting next week.