Italian 5G Auction Exceeds €4 Billion

Italy’s ongoing 5G spectrum passed the €4 billion mark after the sixth day of bidding on Thursday, the government announced.

The winners of spectrum in the 700 MHz band were decided last week, but bidding continues for airwaves in the higher bands: 3.7 GHz and 26 GHz.

The big money is in the 3.7 GHz band. As it stands, Wind Tre has pledged close to €1 billion for at total of 100 MHz of 3.7 GHz spectrum, while TIM has committed 849 million for an 80 MHz block and Iliad €102 million for 20 MHz, according to the Ministry of Economic Development.

The 3.7 GHz band has raised €1.94 billion so far, out of a running total of €4.15 billion, which includes the €2.04 billion brought in by the 700 MHz frequencies.

TIM and Vodafone each picked up 2×10 MHz of 700 MHz spectrum for €680.2 million and €683.2 million respectively. Iliad paid €676.5 million for the same amount of spectrum, a block that had been reserved for it as a market newcomer.

The sums are much lower in the 26 GHz band, where TIM, Wind Tre, Fastweb, Iliad and Vodafone have together pledged €163.7 million so far, split roughly equally between them, Bidding is ongoing on Friday. – Total Telecom