Telekom Austria has acquired half of all spectrum being made available in the market’s latest auction, spending €1.03bn in the process. The firm acquired four blocks of 800MHz spectrum, three blocks at 900MHz and seven blocks of 1800MHz spectrum, giving it 2 x 70 MHZ, half of the total allocation of  2 x 140MHz.

T-Mobile USA won 2 x 45MHz, while 3 Austria took 2 x 25MHz, Telekom Austria won two thirds of the 800MHz spectrum that was available.

The Austrian regulator, the TKK, had hoped to use some of the 800MHz allocation to attract a new licensee to the market but none was forthcoming.

The management at Telekom Austria was positive about the range and size of the spectrum package, but clearly resented the price that was attached. “The high price we had to pay is a bitter pill to swallow, however, A1 is now best equipped for the future, and more specifically, for the on-going explosion of data volumes,” said chief executive Hannes Ametsreiter

“The bids we made in the auction were clearly in the best interest of our customers, nevertheless, we ended up paying one of the highest prices in Europe, which slightly dampened the joy over this success,” added the mobile operation’s CTO, Marcus Grausam.