Providers should be allowed to license up to 40% of the available frequencies. The Consumer and Market Authority (ACM) gives this advice to the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate, writes Tweakers. By limiting the number of frequencies per provider, the Dutch mobile market must remain competitive.
The regulator recommends that in the forthcoming auctions the amount of frequency space that a provider may obtain be limited in order to arrive at a “balanced distribution of the spectrum”. Making room for a newcomer to the safety then is not necessary, and according to the ACM that is also “effective instrument”.
The ACM is talking about the safety of the 700-, 1400- and 2100 MHz band that will be auctioned at the end of this year or the beginning of next year. It also concerns the auction for the 3.5 GHz band at the end of 2021 or the beginning of 2022. That frequency is important for 5G.
The Supervisor advises the Ministry to set three ceilings. A first maximum amount of money on the total frequency of the event, and comes out at 40 percent. The ACM also proposes a maximum of 40 percent on ownership of frequencies below 1 GHz and a maximum of 40 percent on the frequencies to be auctioned in the 3.5 GHz band. According to the regulator, the maximum for the latter frequency is necessary in order to be able to “offer a full 5G”.
Other measures
Earlier there were other measures for the auctioning of frequencies. In the past, space was reserved for a possible fourth party. The ACM now states that this was not possible. This space was previously used by Tele2, but this provider has now merged with T-Mobile.
According to the regulator, it is ‘unlikely that the level of competition will deteriorate significantly over the next five years’ as a result of the merger, even though the organisation would prefer to see as many players in the market as possible. The ceilings are intended to ensure ‘effective competition after the auction’.
This news article was automatically translated from Dutch to give Techzine.eu a head start. All news articles after September 1, 2019 are written in native English and NOT translated. All our background stories are written in native English as well. For more information read our launch article.
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