Five bidders take 2.6 GHz WiMAX spectrum in Norway

Five bidders take 2.6 GHz WiMAX spectrum in Norway

The Norwegian Post and Telecommunications Authority (NPT) completed an auction this week of 2.6 GHz radio frequencies, the "3G" spectrum coveted by WiMAX operators worldwide. This was the first auction of an IMT frequency since the ITU admitted WiMAX into the family of IMT technologies last month.

According to an NPT press release, the auction, which lasted for six days, totaled NOK 228,881,000 (US$ 42 million). Licenses were given to five companies, including: Arctic Wireless AS, Craig Wireless Systems Ltd, Hafslund Telekom AS, NetCom AS, a subsidiary of TeliaSonera AB, and Telenor ASA.

The auction also included the sale of a single license in the 2010 ~ 2025 MHz frequency band, itself also a frequency identified as IMT, and used predominantly for UMTS technology. This license was acquired by Inquam Broadband GmbH. NPT reported that the license was sold for NOK 1,000,000 (US$183,831). In its announcement, NPT noted that this frequency will be "used for nomadic and mobile broadband services." Inquam Broadband owns WiMAX spectrum in several countries in Europe, include Germany, Switzerland and Austria.

All the licenses auctioned this week are valid from January 2008 until December 31, 2022. NPT said the licenses will be freely tradable, and the licenses were also granted on the principle of technology neutrality, thus the licensee may select which technology to use in the frequency band.

To what extent the bidders intend to launch WiMAX services with the spectrum is not immediately known. Norwegian telecom giant Telenor already has launched WiMAX services in Norway using 3.5 GHz spectrum. Boyd Craig, CEO of the Canada-based Craig Wireless, told WiMAX Day that his company plans to use the spectrum to build a WiMAX network. Craig Wireless is already building WiMAX networks in Canada, USA and Greece using 2.5 GHz and 3.5 GHz spectrum.

According to a report in the Norwegian technology journal Teleavisen, each of the other Norwegian participants indicated that they would use the spectrum for use with WiMAX.

NPT auctioned the spectrum in six regional lots, and not all bidders acquired licenses for every region in Norway. Arctic Wireless AS, based in Moss, on the South East coast of Norway, only took several regions, as did Hafslund Telekom AS, a subsidiary of the large Norwegian renewable energy products developer.

This auction is particularly important as it is the first of many auctions for 2.6 GHz spectrum that will occur in Europe throughout the next year. The next auctions for 2.6 GHz are scheduled for early next year in Sweden and then in the UK and Austria.

Being the first of many also gave an indication of the price that 2.6 GHz spectrum might fetch at other auctions. The UK organisation PolicyTracker indicated that the Norwegian auction provides a fair index of future pricing for 2.6GHz. "On the same basis a UK auction would raise €375M [US$549 million] and a Swedish auction €56M [US$82 million]."

PolicyTracker also noted an increase in the value of WiMAX spectrum. The price paid for the 2.6 GHz frequencies was higher than those paid for 3.5 GHz WiMAX spectrum in Norway two years ago. The 2.6 GHz spectrum gave a price of US$0.047 per MHz pop, whereas the 3.5 GHz spectrum was sold for US$0.011 per MHz pop.