Europe's first 700 MHz spectrum auction in Germany (was live tracked)
May-June 2015
Europe's first 700 MHz ("second digital dividend") radio spectrum auction has ended in Germany (combined with 900, 1800 and 1500 MHz bands. DFMonitor was live tracking the bids here.
The auction has ended.
* 700 MHz (new spectrum): Vodafone triggered bidding in round 165
* 700 and 900 MHz bids are less than a third of the final prices paid for 800 MHz blocks in 2010 in Germany (that time 4 players)
* 700 MHz reserver price in France (€416m per 5 MHz paired block) is over double than German bids, for less population
* 1800 MHz bids exceeded the benchmark of the competitive 4-player Italy auction outcome in 2011 (€0.26/MHz/pop)
* Overall bids were low, only a small fraction of the US 700 MHz (2008) and 1500 MHz (2014-2015) benchmarks
Rewheel's commentary after the auction:
Reuters: "Five billion is a small fraction of the valuation of this spectrum mix based on the U.S. auction outcome, normalised for German population," said Antonios Drossos co-founder of Finnish telecoms advisory firm Rewheel.
The auction format was Ascending Simultaneous Multiround Auction ('SMRA')
Link to the Bundesnetzagentur's auction site: » here
Auction rules in English: (pdf) » here
Charts last updated: May 13 2020 20:28 Finnish time
Rewheel's commentaries before the auction:The auction has ended.
* 700 MHz (new spectrum): Vodafone triggered bidding in round 165
* 700 and 900 MHz bids are less than a third of the final prices paid for 800 MHz blocks in 2010 in Germany (that time 4 players)
* 700 MHz reserver price in France (€416m per 5 MHz paired block) is over double than German bids, for less population
* 1800 MHz bids exceeded the benchmark of the competitive 4-player Italy auction outcome in 2011 (€0.26/MHz/pop)
* Overall bids were low, only a small fraction of the US 700 MHz (2008) and 1500 MHz (2014-2015) benchmarks
Rewheel's commentary after the auction:
Reuters: "Five billion is a small fraction of the valuation of this spectrum mix based on the U.S. auction outcome, normalised for German population," said Antonios Drossos co-founder of Finnish telecoms advisory firm Rewheel.
The auction format was Ascending Simultaneous Multiround Auction ('SMRA')
Link to the Bundesnetzagentur's auction site: » here
Auction rules in English: (pdf) » here
Charts last updated: May 13 2020 20:28 Finnish time
Reuters: The new market dynamics make fierce competition unlikely between former state monopoly Deutsche Telekom, Telefonica Deutschland and Vodafone, said Antonios Drossos, co-founder of Finnish telecoms advisory firm Rewheel. "In this case, there are three players with equal market share of about a third. In such a case nobody is willing to pay extra for additional spectrum ... They are comfortable with the current status quo," he said.
EurActiv: Antonios Drossos, managing partner of the Finnish telecom consultancy Rewheel, told EurActiv, “The German government is happy with three operators and that's why no spectrum was reserved for a new entrant, as in the Netherlands, Austria or in the UK.” Drossos says it's in the interest of Vodafone, Telefónica and Deutsche Telekom to keep bids low. A newcomer in the auction would drive up bidding prices. Drossos argues that the German auction will affect how 700 MHz is introduced around Europe, since the companies bidding are major players in a number of other countries as well. “Vodafone is present in 12 markets, Deutsche Telekom in 10, Telefonica only in three. Unless spectrum is set aside for new entrants in three operator markets to encourage competition Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone and Telefonica will not pay more than what they will pay in Germany to split the spectrum in three parts,” he said.
2015
Germany
spectrum
700MHz
