Swedish Telcos Splash $311M In First Round Of 5G Auction

Sweden’s telecoms regulator has announced that its recent 5G 700MHz auction raised in excess of $311 million.

The auction raised a total of 2.82 billion Swedish Krona ($311.9 million), with Telia and Net4Mobility (a joint venture between Tele2 and Telenor) each winning spectrum. However, the country’s smallest mobile network operator, Hi3G Access, missed out.

Telia paid $152 million (SEK1.38 billion) for two 10MHz blocks of spectrum, which included a coverage obligation.

“The frequency that we have acquired is connected to a coverage obligation and we will continue to aim at having Sweden’s by far best quality and coverage. It also gives Telia the possibility to position ourselves with nationwide 5G services. The 700 MHz band will be a great complement to the other frequencies that we use in our mobile network,” said Anders Olsson, CEO of Telia Sweden.

Net4Mobility paid $159 million (SEK1.44 billion) for two 5MHz blocks of spectrum, containing no minimum coverage obligation. Net4Mobility said that it would look to leverage its comprehensive 4G infrastructure in the run up to the launch of 5Gservices in the second half of 2019.

“Our 5G expansion is both aggressive and ambitious, which we are very proud of. The nationwide 5G network will provide even better coverage, faster connection, reduced latency and higher capacity, which is a prerequisite for the increasing number of devices. At the same time, our investments continue to strengthen the existing 4G network in the country,” said Stefan Jäverbring, CTO at Telenor Sweden.

With the first-round bidding complete, the Telia and Net4Mobility will now enter the second round of the auction, to determine their final frequency allocations.  – Total Telecom