Operators are unhappy, and the government’s plans have sparked court cases by other parties
The auction of the 5G spectrum in the Netherlands has been delayed again, NL Times reports, to the local telecom companies’ frustration. The Dutch website, NU.nl, quoted a spokesperson for the National Digital Infrastructure Service (RDI) confirming, “An auction this year is no longer a possibility. A new date for the auction has yet to be announced.”
KPN, Vodaphone, and Odido, formerly T-Mobile and Tele2 Mobiel, need more frequency to offer 5G as mobile internet traffic is growing in the Netherlands by 30-50% annually. But things are not going smoothly.
National Frequency Plan
In February, the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs & Climate Policy (MEACP) amended the National Frequency Plan so that the spectrum could be released by the end of 2023.
This included a 300MHz tranche of national spectrum for mobile operators and a ‘provisional’ allocation of two 50MHz blocks at the lower and upper end of the band (3400MHz-3450MHz and 3750MHz-3800MHz) for local wireless applications.
Both the Port of Rotterdam and Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport feared they would not secure the bandwidth they needed with this approach. The Port complained the operators would get the best quality spectrum and that this could impact the development of 5G for autonomous ships and IoT sensors in the port, among other things.
In April, Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam and the Port of Rotterdam Authority had filed legal actions against the government’s 5G 3.5GHz spectrum policy. The MEACP said “several parties” have appealed against the proposed adjustment and those appeals will be heard in court on 11 and 12 October.
Moving Inmarsat
In addition, the government is yet to finalise an agreement with satellite operator Inmarsat to vacate the 3.5GHz band, which is part of the Dutch national licensing plan. Freeing this spectrum involves shifting Inmarsat’s international emergency safety communications for aviation and shipping from the Netherlands to Greece.
The Dutch government had hoped this would be complete by 1 January 2024, but if the new Greek facilities are not ready, Inmarsat will continue to use an 80MHz block in the 3.5GHz range.
Mobile disappointed
The Netherlands mobile operators are not happy at the latest delay. “This auction should have taken place a long time ago. We are several years out of step with other countries in Europe, and there is still a lot of uncertainty,” a spokesperson for KPN told NU.nl.
A spokesperson for Vodafone was quoted saying, “The 3.5GHz band is particularly important to us and an essential part of the development of our network. We hope that this will be available for national mobile communications in the short term.”