Spain’s Ministry of Energy, Tourism and the Digital Agenda has announced the launch of a public consultation into the country’s first 5G spectrum tender. In a statement kicking off the auction process, the ministry proposed making available a maximum of 120MHz of spectrum per operator or business entity in the 3.4-3.8 GHz bands with a view to “ensuring an adequate competitive structure in the mobile communications market” and giving each operator access to “a sufficient amount of spectrum to take advantage of the potential of 5G technology."
Interested parties have until 14 March to submit their contributions and comments, with the ministry having also requested a report on the proposal from communications and markets regulator CNMC. The tender is part of the 5G National Plan released by the ministry at the end of last year, which sets out a roadmap to position Spain among the most advanced countries in the development of 5G.
The ministry has yet to announce when it will be auctioning frequencies in the other 5G bands it previously said would be made available in the first half of 2018, including the 700 MHz, 1.5 GHz and 2.6 GHz bands.
