The Malta Communication Authority (MCA) has outlined the spectrum availability for its planned sale of 4G wireless spectrum in the 800MHz (790MHz-862MHz), 1800MHz (1710MHz-1785MHz and 1805MHz-1880MHz) and 2500MHz (2500MHz-2690MHz) bands. Six 2×5MHz lots of paired spectrum are to be made available in each of the 800MHz and 1800MHz bands, while at 2500MHz there are 14 lots of 2×5MHz paired spectrum and two 25MHz tranches of unpaired frequencies.
In terms of spectrum caps, operators are limited to two 800MHz lots, while the MCA is retaining the existing cap on 1800MHz spectrum which limits providers to eight 5MHz paired lots across the 900MHz and 1800MHz bands. In addition, each service provider is limited to 210MHz of spectrum across all bands. If frequencies remain unassigned after the auction process finishes, the cap on the 800MHz band will be raised to three 2×5MHz blocks, while the combined 900MHz/1800MHz cap will be raised to eleven lots. The regulator will now wait for the government to determine the reserve prices for the spectrum before announcing further details of the auction schedule.