Masmovil, one of Spain's big four telecoms operators, said it agreed to pay EUR 30 million to acquire 40 MHz of spectrum in the 3.5GHz band from Spanish satellite broadband operator Eurona, which it will use to provide its future 5G services. The company said the purchase brings its 3.5 GHz stock to 80 MHz, giving it the highest per-client ratio in that part of the spectrum on the Spanish market.
At the same time, Masmovil said it won a contract from Eurona to provide it with fixed wireless and mobile services on a wholesale basis.
Masmovil, which acquired its existing 40 MHz of 3.5 GHz spectrum via its recent purchase of fixed wireless operator Neutra, is currently bidding for additional licences in the 3.6-3.8 GHz spectrum auction launched this week, alongside Telefonica, Orange and Vodafone.
Spain's operators are permitted to acquire a maximum of 120 MHz in the 3.4-3.8 GHz frequencies and a minimum of 100 MHz of such spectrum is considered essential to provide a high-quality 5G service.
The company said the new spectrum will also help it improve improve data speeds on its existing wireless services and allow it to offer new services.
