France Is Expected to Delay 5G Spectrum Auction

Disagreements between France’s communications regulator and its finance ministry on pricing and other details of the country’s 5G spectrum auction were tipped to hold-up the process until at least March 2020, Reuters reported. Citing un-named sources, the news publication said regulator Arcep and the finance ministry were yet to agree on the amount of spectrum being auctioned and the starting price for lots, delaying the start of the legal process leading to the sale.

Its original aim was to begin the auction in January, though this will apparently now be March at the earliest. Arcep opened a public consultation into the process in July with, at the time, the possibility of an Autumn auction being floated. France is already behind other large European countries when it comes to auctioning spectrum for 5G services, with the UK, Spain, Germany and Italy all having completed the process months ago and the first services already live.

Problems with investments in 5G have also hit Bulgaria. The Balkan country will probably start the process of offering spectrum in Q2 2020, if a proposal for decreasing frequency fees gets adopted by the government. Ivan Dimitrov, chairman of the Communication Regulation Commission, announced the regulator will open procedures for providing frequencies in the 700 MHz and 3.6GHz bands by the middle of next year, Reuters reported.

He added the tariffs operators will have to pay in order to deploy the next-gen network will be decreased in order to stimulate operations in the country. According to the report, the regulator has suggested a drop in pricing between 30 per cent and 50 per cent. The price change is expected to be voted on by The Council of Ministers very soon, minister of transport Rosen Zhelyazkov said, cited by business media Investor.

The media added all three Bulgarian operators have addressed concerns about the construction legislation in the country, which currently issues permits for renovating base stations within 12-24 months. It’s also possible the three carriers could cooperate in order to share costs in deploying 5G, as current prices for 5G equipment are about four times more expensive than 4G and 3G networks, according to Vivacom CEO Atanas Dobrev.