The Dutch spectrum agency Agentschap Telecom announced that the auction of multiple bands of spectrum will start on 31 October with five participants. The auction will redistribute frequencies in the 800, 900, 1800, 1900, 2100 and 2600 MHz bands. The agency did not name the qualified bidders, but the three existing network operators - KPN, T-Mobile Netherlands and Vodafone Netherlands - are thought to be among the participants. Other likely participants are Tele2 Netherlands and the cable operators Ziggo and UPC, which have previously formed a consortium to bid on frequencies. The government earlier agreed to reserve three spectrum blocks for newcomers, including two 5MHz blocks in the 800MHz band and one in the 900MHz band. One of these will now likely be opened up to the existing operators.
