The Government publishes the order of bases to tender the 700Mhz spectrum band, one of the preferred bands for the deployment of 5G

The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation has published today the Order of Bases that establishes the conditions that will govern the tender of concessions in the 700 MHz band, one of the priority bands for the deployment of 5G technology. The tender for the 700 MHz band is one of the actions foreseen in the 5G Technology Drive Strategy and is among the reforms committed in the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan.

With this action, one of the preferred bands for deploying 5G networks and services will be made available to telecommunications operators.

The final tender conditions for the 700 MHz band are the result of a consultative process that is almost unique in Europe and has no previous record in our country. In December 2020, the draft terms were subject to public consultation and peer review within the European Union’s Radio Spectrum Policy Group (RSPG).

As a result of this consultative process, some conditions have been modified, as announced by the second vice-president of the Government and Minister of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation, Nadia Calviño, to companies and associations in the telecommunications sector during the presentation of the road map to encourage investment in 5G networks and services on May 7.

The objective is to promote the necessary investments to ensure that Spain remains a European reference in connectivity and that its digital infrastructures allow society as a whole to effectively benefit from digital transformation.

The most substantial changes relate to the revision of the exit prices, whose overall figure decreases by 15%, to 995.5 million euros compared to the 1.170 million euros of the public consultation. The concession of frequencies that will have a minimum duration of 20 years, extendable for 20 more years, has also been modified. As for the coverage obligations, they have been more precisely detailed by including the list with the municipalities, airports, ports, railway stations and specific motorways to which operators must extend the coverage with each concession. It also includes the exact dates of the time milestones at which these coverage obligations must be met.

The auction will begin before July 21, 2021 and seven concessions will be tendered in total. Four grants correspond to two 2x10 MHz blocks and two 2x5 MHz blocks, in the paired band 703-733 and 758-788 MHz for upstream and downstream communications.

Three concessions are also tendered in the 738-753 MHz band, each of which will allocate the use of a 5 MHz block for downstream communications.

All concessions are state-wide, given the strategic importance of this frequency band, the extensive territorial coverage it provides, the need to ensure efficient spectrum use, and the purpose of avoiding irregular and fragmented deployment.

The auction will be conducted over the Internet, using a secure Electronic Auction Platform (PES). A training session on the use of the Platform will be held before July 19.

Companies that are interested in participating can submit their applications until 13 hours on July 2, 2021.

Along with the tender for the 700 MHz frequency band and other reforms, the Strategy for Boosting 5G Technology foresees a public investment of 2 billion euros until 2025 to encourage the deployment of networks and services, of which 1.5 billion are included in the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan.