Finland begins 800MHz auction process

The Finnish Government has begun the registration process for the country’s auction of the 800Mhz frequency band. Finland’s Ministry of Transport and Communications (MoTC) will hold an auction to sell operating licences in early 2013.

Those registering for the auction will have to pay a participation fee of €65,000 to cover the administrative costs of the process.  A total of 2x30MHz of frequencies are for sale, to be auctioned in 2x5MHz frequency pairs. A starting price will be set for the frequencies, and the Finnish government expects to generate auction revenue of at least €100m.

The Government will grant the winning bidders a licence for a fixed period of 20 years. The licences to be granted will cover the whole of Finland excluding the Region of Åland.

The auction will enable Finnish operators to deploy LTE services more quickly, according to Minister of Housing and Communications Krista Kiuru.

“This decision places Finland once again among the top countries in the world in terms of applying the latest technology in mobile communication. The auction enables genuine competition for frequencies and will ultimately benefit consumers,” she said.

“The strict coverage requirement ensures that mobile services can be enjoyed all over the country a few years after the new frequencies have been taken in use.”