5G sale proceeds reach EUR2.99 billion in Italy

The five participants in the Italian government’s sale of 5G wireless spectrum had offered a combined total of EUR2.99 billion (USD3.47 billion) by the close of Friday’s bidding, it has been confirmed. The auction resumes today (Monday 17 September), with bidding to continue for frequencies in the 3.6GHz and 26GHz bands. The sale of 700MHz spectrum was wrapped up last week, with Iliad offering EUR676 million for a 2×10MHz block of spectrum, while TIM and Vodafone agreed to pay EUR680 million and EUR683 million respectively for similar sized blocks. The highest bids in the 3.6GHz range currently come from Wind Tre, TIM and Iliad, while in the 26GHz band all five participants – TIM, Vodafone, Wind Tre, Iliad and Fastweb – are currently leading the bidding for one block each.