MUNICH, Germany — The German regulation agency intends to sell a part of the 2.6 GHz frequency band for 3G telephony and data usage. Matthias Kurth, president of the Bundesnetzagentur, announced to auction the frequency block early next year.
In an interview with Berliner Zeitung, Kurth said with the plan, the agency reacts to demand from the industry. Mobile carriers such as T-Mobile or Vodafone were eager to offer mobile terminals that could communicate at the speed of a DSL fixed line connection, Kurth said. "For this purpose, the carriers need access to new frequency spectrums", he pointed out.
According to Kurth, the Bundesnetzagentur plans to auction a big chunk of the frequencies in the 2.6 GHz range that not yet have been publicly de-allocated. "These frequencies are very attractive under technological and economical aspects", Kurth said. In addition, the agency also will sell two frequency blocks in the 1.9-GHz range that already were allocated to mobile carriers Mobilcom and Quam, which failed to establish a sustainable 3G network operation and subsequently were forced to return their license, said an agency spokesperson.
In the year 2000, the agency already had sold a frequency block via an auction during the run-up of the 3G mobile launch. In that auction, the agency had achieved about €50 billion ($65 billion). This high investment significantly slowed down the 3G mobile services roll-out in Germany and caused several mobile carriers to collapse.
After this painful experience, the prices this time probably will be far lower, said IDC telecommunications analyst Dan Bieler. He expects that the auction will achieve returns of several 100 million euros.
The agency declined to comment on which carriers it expects to join the bid. Market watchers, however, say the expect that besides the current 3G providers in Germany - E-Plus, O2, T-Mobile and Vodafone - probably at least one more interested party would enter the race. "It is an open secret that AT&T considers to offer mobile services in Germany", said Bieler. "In the recent years, they have established a very strong fixed line business, addressing enterprise clients in Germany. It would be a logic step to move to 3G as well".
It remains is unclear if presently available handsets could be used at the new frequencies. While from handset manufacturers and chipset vendors no comment was available, Bieler downplayed the topic. "This aspect is not so eminent for the carriers", he said.
