The main auction for the award of 3.4 – 3.8 GHz band frequencies was completed today.
Five rounds of bidding took place over the course of the day on 1 October 2020, ending at round number 17. At the end of this round, the unit price for a block of 10 MHz reached 126 million euros.
During the final round of the day, the candidates requested the following numbers of blocks:
Round | Price (€) | Number of 10 MHz blocks requested by the bidding company | Total | |||
Bouygues Telecom | Free Mobile | Orange | SFR | |||
17 | 126,000,000 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 11 |
Because the total combined number of blocks requested by the bidders (11 blocks of 10 MHz) was equal to the number of available blocks (11 blocks of 10 MHz), the auction is now closed.
The following table summarises the outcome of the preceding days’ bidding:
Bidding date | Number of the latest round | Price reached during the latest round (€) | Number of 10 MHz blocks requested by the bidding company | Total | |||
Bouygues Telecom | Free Mobile | Orange | SFR | ||||
29 September | 4 | 85,000,000 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 13 |
30 September | 12 | 111,000,000 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 13 |
Total amount of spectrum obtained by the winning bidders
In addition to the frequencies obtained during the main auction, the four candidates that made the additional commitments set out in the specifications will be awarded a block of 50 MHz for the sum of 350 M€, once the current procedure has been completed.
The following table lists the total amount of 3.4 – 3.8 GHz band frequencies that each candidate will be awarded upon completion of the current procedure, and the amount to be paid for them:
Bouygues Telecom | Free Mobile | Orange | SFR | Total |
70 MHz | 70 MHz | 90 MHz | 80 MHz | 310 MHz |
602 M€ | 602 M€ | 854 M€ | 728 M€ | 2,786 M€ |
Final phase of the award procedure: “positioning” auction
At this stage, at the close of the main auction, the winning bidders have committed to paying a total €2,786,000,000 for the 310 MHz of spectrum to be awarded.
Now that the amount of spectrum to be awarded to each of the winning bidders is known, a “positioning” auction will be held in October to determine how their frequencies will be positioned in the 3.4 – 3.8 GHz band. This auction will give the winning bidders an opportunity to express their preferences regarding their position on the band, and their position with respect to the other winning bidders.
Once this final stage has been completed, Arcep will award the winning bidders licences to use 3.4 – 3.8 GHz band frequencies.
Arcep continues its work on digital technology’s environmental footprint
Following through on its first two workshops – “Adapting business practices to achieve digital sustainability” and “How to achieve both connectivity for all and digital sustainability?” – Arcep continues its commitment to the work being carried out through its “Achieving digital sustainability” collaboration platform (see the detailed work programme (pdf - 259KB)). Parallel work on measuring digital technology’s environmental footprint is also being done through the joint mission that the Government assigned to France’s Environment and Energy Management Agency (ADEME) and Arcep.