Winning spectrum bidders to be announced in March
The Spanish government postponed plans to award mobile spectrum in the 2.6 GHz and 3.5 GHz bands to January 2016, according to local press reports. The Spanish authorities also said they expect to announce the winning bidders in March.
The government will award a 2×10 megahertz block in the 2.6 GHz band, which was previously owned by cable TV operator ONO and is currently owned by Vodafone. As part of the conditions to approve the acquisition, Vodafone was forced by the government to give up this spectrum to avoid surpassing the legal limit for spectrum ownership.
The starting price for the 2.6 GHz spectrum was set at 5 million euros ($5.5 million). The available spectrum in the 2.6 GHz band will enable the winning operator to offer services in Aragon, Cantabria, Castilla y Leon, Cataluña, Ceuta, Extremadura, La Rioja, Navarra, Madrid, Melilla, Murcia and Valencia. The Spanish government is also set to auction 20 megahertz of spectrum in the 3.5 GHz band for mobile broadband services across the country.
Among the potential bidders are Yoigo and MasMovil, with current mobile operators Movistar, Vodafone and Orange not able to take part in the auction process as they have all reached spectrum holding caps.
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EE to provide network for emergency services in the UK
In other EMEA news, U.K. mobile operator EE announced it was selected by the Home Office to provide Britain’s Emergency Services with a national mobile network, giving 300,000 critical emergency workers access to LTE voice and data for the first time.
EE’s new 4G Emergency Services Network is set to replace the existing TETRA system beginning in mid-2017 as current contracts expire.
In order to deliver the mission critical emergency services network, EE said it will build a new dedicated core network for emergency services, build more than 500 new sites and expand coverage in rural areas. The telco will also switch on low frequency 800 MHz spectrum on more than 3,800 sites to enhance rural and indoor coverage. EE also plans to implement voice-over-LTE and push-to-talk services.