After 16 days and 181 rounds, the spectrum auction for mobile broadband has concluded. All three companies, Telefónica Deutschland, Telekom Deutschland and Vodafone, were successful in bidding for spectrum in line with their business models: Undertaking Amount of spectrum Award price Telefónica Deutschland GmbH & Co. OHG 700 MHz: 900 MHz: 1800 MHz: 2 x 10 MHz 2 x 10 MHz 2 x 10 MHz € 1,198,238,000 Telekom […]
France’s telecoms regulator ARCEP has revealed details of its proposed allocation plans for the freed-up 700 MHz band, which will see 2×30 MHz of spectrum offered to mobile operators to enable them to keep pace with increases in consumption, with the Government deeming it vital that they be allocated new frequency bands, and particularly bands […]
Anne Bouverot, Director General of the GSMA, which represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide, has called on European regulators to give Member States the flexibility to keep pace with the changing needs of consumers by supporting a co-primary mobile broadcasting allocation in the UHF band. She made her comments in response to the release […]
The European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT) has agreed a common position which opposes the allocation of the UHF band (470-694MHz) to mobile services. The vote was held in preparation for the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) WRC-15 Conference, where important decisions on the future assignment of spectrum will be made. The European Common […]
There are unconfirmed reports that Charlie Ergen’s DISH Network is in merger talks with cellular giant T-Mobile. The Wall Street Journal is running the story saying Ergen would become Chairman of the enlarged group, while T-Mobile’s chief executive John Legere would be CEO. Dish is declining to comment. However, the WSJ says the deal discussions […]
Brazil’s government says the entry price for an upcoming auction of satellite spectrum is being increased by 20 per cent to a minimum of BRL 27 million (about $9 million). The nation’s Court of Audit (TCU) approved the sum following on from recommendations from Anatel (the National Telecoms Agency) Brazil will sell access to 4 […]
The call for applications for the 700 MHz DTT band auction to French telecoms is set for early July, Sébastien Soriano, the president of telecom regulatory body Arcep, confirmed. The final round for the allocation of these frequencies to operators, for an estimated €2 billion, will take place before the end of 2015. From December […]
As the European Commission’s public consultation on the Lamy Report on the future use of the UHF band (470-790 MHz) closes, the EBU is renewing its call to safeguard the interests of TV viewers in the EU by offering long-term guarantees for Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT). The Commission sought to collect views on the report’s […]
France’s telecoms regulator ARCEP has published a summary of the contributions to its consultation on a strategic review of spectrum for superfast mobile, which ran from December 16th 2014 to February 16th 2015. At a time when mobile Internet traffic continues to increase at a tremendous pace, the purpose of the consultation was to examine […]
Although South Africa’s Communications Minister Faith Muthambi had earlier intimated that the nation would switch off its analogue broadcasting system in June, the Department of Communications has issued a New Broadcasting Digital Migration policy which suggests this is not the case. The Department says it welcomes the Cabinet decision regarding the approval of the Broadcasting […]