Communication (Portuguese market)

2021: In Portugal, 5G frequencies sold for €566 million

On October 27, 2021, Portugal's national regulator ANACOM announced that the main stage of bidding for the long-awaited 5G auction in the country ended 200 days after its start, raising about €566 million. Portuguese trading, it seems, will go down in history as one of the longest auctions, starting on January 14, 2021 and containing 1.7 thousand rounds.

The regulatory body Autoridade Nacional de Comunicações (Anacom) said that according to the results of the auction, it earned a total of €566.8 million, while competitors Vodafone Portugal, MEO and NOS also received a spectrum. In addition, two new 5G market participants appeared at the auction, Dixarobil Telecom, which was created by the Romanian company Digi through its Spanish business, as well as Nowo, a Portuguese cable company owned by MÁSMÓVIL. Dense Air Portugal became the sixth successful bidder, but the company already has a license in the 3.5 GHz range.

In Portugal, 5G frequencies sold for €566 million

The Portuguese company OpCo acquired two lots of 2 × 5 MHz units in the 700 MHz band for a total amount of €38.4 million, as well as nine blocks of 10 MHz units in the 3.6 GHz band for a total amount of €94.75 million. The company has not received a single license in the bands of 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2.1 GHz or 2.6 GHz. NOS spent the most, posting more than €165 million for two lots in the 700 MHz band, two in the 900 MHz band, one in the 2.1 GHz band and ten in the 3.6 GHz band. MEO, which paid almost €125.23 million for frequencies in the bands of 700 MHz, 900 MHz, 2.1 GHz and 3.6 GHz. This is followed by Nowo, which invested almost €70.22 million and received two of the three lots in the 1800 MHz band sold at an exclusive stage for new members, as well as frequencies of 2.1 GHz and 3.6 GHz. Dixarobil spent about €67.34 million on the purchase of the spectrum of 900 MHz, 1800 MHz and 3.6 GHz. In second place was Dense Air, which spent only €5.76 million on frequencies of 3.6 GHz.

Vodafone Group CEO Nick Reed in May 2021 criticized the spectrum auction in Portugal for seeking to attract new players. Speaking during a telephone conversation about the group's earnings, Reid said he was unhappy with the sale's design. Vodafone Portugal CEO Mario Vaz turned to LinkedIn to express his relief that the auction was finally over after ten long months, and once again criticized the development and management of the process, due to which Portugal lags behind the rest of Europe in terms of 5G development. He assured that Vodafone Portugal will strive to launch 5G services.^[1]

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