Six express interest in spectrum auction

Germany’s telecoms regulator, the Federal Network Agency (FNA), has received six requests to take part in the country’s digital frequency auction scheduled for early in the second quarter of 2010, Reuters reports. Without revealing who the interested parties are, the FNA has said it will now examine the applications and decide if the companies qualify to take part. German telecoms giant Deutsche Telekom (DT), UK-based Vodafone, Spain’s Telefonica O2 Germany and E-Plus, the local unit of Netherlands-based group KPN, are all expected to be among those asking to be admitted as bidders. According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database, the auction involves licences for spectrum freed up in the switchover from analogue to digital television and represents Germany’s largest spectrum auction since the allocation of UMTS concessions in 2000. A spectrum package of 360MHz is set for sale, including spectrum in the 1.7GHz, 1.8GHz, 2GHz and 2.6GHz ranges, as well as 60MHz in the digital dividend range of 800MHz. The government hopes the auction will help close the digital divide in Germany by speeding up the rollout of broadband internet and increase coverage in rural areas.