Spain to complete DTT migration to free up 700MHz band by end-October

News Wireless Spain 24 JUN 2020
Spain to complete DTT migration to free up 700MHz band by end-October
Spain’s Council of Ministers has set a new deadline of 31 October by which to complete the second digital dividend plan to free up the 700 MHz band for 5G mobile services. The migration of digital terrestrial television (DTT) channels was suspended in mid-March due to the coronavirus lockdown, meaning the government was forced to delay plans to hold an auction of 5G-ready spectrum in the 700MHz band before the scheduled EU deadline of 30 June 2020. That auction is now set to take place in the first quarter of 2021, said Spain’s Minister of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation Nadia Calvino.

The so-called Second Digital Dividend resumed on 01 June and will now continue with strict safety standards until the end of October alongside simulcast broadcasting in the new and old frequencies. According to a report in Expansion, the gap of several months between the end of the DTT migration process and the auction of frequencies is due to the operators themselves informing the government that they are not currently in a position to shell out the funds to bid for the licences or set up the required multidisciplinary teams.

The government was due to auction a total of 60MHz of frequencies in six 10MHz blocks, with Vodafone, Movistar (Telefonica), Orange and Masmovil expected to submit bids. Vodafone is the only Spanish operator to have launched commercial 5G services, with Orange and Telefonica in no immediate rush to deploy the technology.


 

Categories:

Mobile

Companies:

Orange,  Vodafone,  Masmovil,  Movistar,  Telefonica

Countries:

Spain

Tags:

Data services, Broadcast, Wholesale, 5G, Government policy

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