The German frequency auction has ended with total bids of EUR 4.385 billion, of which the majority, EUR 3.576 billion, went to spectrum in the 800 MHz range. The auction started on 12 April and ended on 20 May after 224 bidding rounds. Only three operators acquired the so-called digital dividend frequencies. O2 Germany paid EUR 1.212 billion for two blocks, each consisting of 2x5 MHz, followed by Vodafone Germany paying EUR 1.21 billion for two blocks and T-Mobile Germany spending EUR 1.154 billion on two blocks. The fourth participant, E-Plus, was unable to acquire 800 MHz frequencies. The frequencies in the 2 GHz range yielded a total EUR 359.5 million. E-Plus purchased two paired blocks, each consisting of 2x4.95 MHz for EUR 187.4 million, Vodafone paid EUR 93.76 million for one paired block, and O2 spent EUR 78.38 million on one paired block (EUR 66.931) and two unpaired blocks, one consisting of 5 MHz and one consisting of 14.2 MHz (EUR 11.45 million). The bids for the 2.6 GHz frequencies amounted to EUR 344.3 million, with Vodafone paying EUR 118.4 million for four paired blocks (2x5 MHz) and five unpaired blocks (1x5 MHz), O2 paying EUR 87.87 million for four paired blocks (2x5 MHz) and two unpaired blocks (1x5 MHz), T-Mobile paying EUR 84.83 million for four paired blocks (2x5 MHz) and one unpaired block (1x5 MHz) and E-Plus paying EUR 53.17 million for two paired blocks (2x5 MHz) and two unpaired blocks (1x5 MHz). Of the operators, Vodafone paid the most: EUR 1.423 billion for 95 MHz, followed by O2 Germany with EUR 1.379 billion for 100 MHz, T-Mobile paying EUR 1.299 billion for 95 MHz and E-Plus paying EUR 283.65 million for 70 MHz.
In a first reaction, T-Mobile’s parent Deutsche Telekom said it is satisfied with the outcome of the auction, which enables the company to push ahead with mobile network expansion and provide customers with even better broadband coverage. The acquisition of spectrum and the corresponding network expansion means Deutsche Telekom can now prepare the ground for rolling out LTE. Deutsche Telekom will announce further details on the LTE roll-out at a later date. Meanwhile E-Plus downplayed the fact that it missed out on the 800 MHz frequencies with the claim that acquiring 70 MHz means doubling its spectrum holdings. The company is particularly pleased with obtaining two additional blocks in the 2.1GHz band, resulting in 40MHz of adjacent spectrum. This additional spectrum can be used immediately in the current roll-out of HSPA+ and for upgrading to LTE in the future. Vodafone was also satisfied, as the acquired frequencies enable the company to expand its mobile data network using the 2 GHz frequencies for UMTS/HSPA and the 2.6 GHz frequencies for LTE. The fourth participant, O2 Germany, was also happy with the outcome of the auction and wants to deploy the first regional LTE network using the 800 MHz frequencies before the end of the year.
