Four operators gain 4G licenses in Finland's 2.6GHz auction

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Four operators gain 4G licenses in Finland's 2.6GHz auction

By CAROLINE GABRIEL

Published: 24 November, 2009

The Baltic states have led the way in Europe's auction of 2.6GHz spectrum, mainly earmarked for LTE or WiMAX services. While the larger economies put digital dividend spectrum on the front burner, Finland has quietly followed Sweden and Norway in selling the mobile broadband frequencies, which are particularly suited to dense urban 4G deployments.

Four operators have gained Finnish 20-year licenses, paying out a modest total of €3.8m during a five-day auction process. The winners are incumbent TeliaSonera, which also bought a Swedish franchise, plus DNA, Elisa and Pirkanmaan Verkko, which represents the Finnet group. Finland's sale raised far less money than those in its neighboring states - Norway's auction raised €25m and Sweden's €230m, both in 2008. The contrast may reflect a reduced perceived value of 2.6GHz spectrum as operators focus on rural coverage in 800MHz digital dividend bands, and on refarming their existing frequencies for 3G expansion and 4G.

The highest bidder in Finland was Elisa, the main challenger to Telia and now the operator with the greatest 3G coverage. As in Sweden, where Intel invested in the TDD license to ensure a WiMAX play in the country, in Finland there will also be a WiMAX player, Pirkanmaan Verkko. However, a fifth bidder, Cyprus-based WiMAX Financial, which operates mainly in eastern Europe, failed to reach the reserve price. In Norway, the WiMAX winner was Craig Wireless.

The sale was the first spectrum auction in Finland, which has in the past adopted the 'beauty contest' approach with free or very low cost licenses for those with the most attractive business plans. Minister of Communications Suvi Linden said in a statement the Ministry would "assess the results of the trial auction and the impact it will have in future".