Estonia’s telecoms watchdog, the Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority (Tarbijakaitse ja Tehnilise Jarelevalve Amet, TTJA), has defended its decision to split 5G-capable spectrum in the 3.6GHz band into three blocks of 130MHz. The decision was made following consultations with operators, it says, and providing three larger blocks of spectrum rather than a greater number of smaller blocks will have benefits for network speed and capacity. In a statement it commented: ‘The TTJA is of the opinion that the chosen solution is technologically significantly better and more sustainable than splitting the frequency bands even further.’
Levikom Eesti, a provider of IoT and fixed-wireless internet services, filed a complaint in March this year saying that auctioning only three licences in the 3.6GHz band would favour the country’s trio of incumbent cellcos, while also hampering competition. The regulator says the legal challenge ‘has created a situation where the development of new services is delayed for an indefinite period and their delivery to customers is delayed, which is certainly not beneficial for the overall development of the telecommunications market or Estonia’.