Telia gets the most spectrum in £200m Swedish 5G auction

The contentious Swedish 5G auction proceeded as planned and the country’s dominant MNO Telia was the narrow winner.

Scott Bicheno

January 19, 2021

2 Min Read
Abstract spectrum background

The contentious Swedish 5G auction proceeded as planned and the country’s dominant MNO Telia was the narrow winner.

It nearly didn’t happen, thanks to the decision to make the outcomes conditional on the winners going nowhere near any Chinese vendors for their 5G networks. Huawei reckoned this contravened EU law and lodged a few appeals, which were dismissed by Swedish courts. Huawei has indicated Sweden hasn’t heard the last of it but, pending its vengeance, the mid-band 5G auction is now a done deal. Here are the winners.

Bidder

Licences in the3.5 GHz band

Licences in the2.3 GHz band

Hi3G Access AB

Winner of 100 MHz in the frequency range 3400–3500 MHz 

 491 250 000

Net4Mobility HB

Winner of 100 MHz in the frequency range 3620-3720 MHz

 665 500 000

Telia Sverige AB

Winner of 120 MHz in the frequency range 3500-3620 MHz

 760 250 006

Teracom AB

Winner of 80 MHz in the frequency range 2300-2380 MHz

 400 000 000

 

Hi3G Access is Three Sweden, Net4Mobility is the joint venture between Telenor and Tele2 and Teracom is a state-owned broadcast thing. Apparently none of the MNOs wanted any 2.3 GHz spectrum so Teracom got to bid against itself. Since all the proceeds (SEK 2.317 billion, which is around 200 million quid) so back to the state anyway, you have to wonder why they bothered.

“As these frequencies have now been awarded, there are conditions for strengthening the capacity for mobile broadband services and for the development of the Internet of Things in Sweden,” said Dan Sjöblom,  Director-General of the Swedish telecoms regulator PTS. “The award will be central to the Swedish 5G development.”

Hi3G Access seems to have got a relative bargain and it’s good to be reminded that spectrum auctions don’t have to take weeks. Maybe that’s because the Swedish government prioritised moving things along over filling holes in its budget for once.

About the Author

Scott Bicheno

As the Editorial Director of Telecoms.com, Scott oversees all editorial activity on the site and also manages the Telecoms.com Intelligence arm, which focuses on analysis and bespoke content.
Scott has been covering the mobile phone and broader technology industries for over ten years. Prior to Telecoms.com Scott was the primary smartphone specialist at industry analyst Strategy Analytics’. Before that Scott was a technology journalist, covering the PC and telecoms sectors from a business perspective.
Follow him @scottbicheno

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