Marking the start of the consultation of the auction for mobile high-speed frequencies, the government also confirmed that after the auction, a minimum of three operators will continue to offer 5G services to Dutch consumers and businesses.
In addition, it also stated that all member states have agreed all core parts of the networks ‘may only come from reliable suppliers.’ A perceived reference to the ongoing allegations against Chinese vendor Huawei and its suggested security concerns. Operators may be required to exclude certain suppliers should there be any ‘suspicions of abuse or espionage’.
In a statement on the government website, Mona Keijzer (pictured), State Secretary of Economic Affairs and Climate, said: “Dutch people use more and more data every day. Electronic payments, online videos, future self-driving cars, robotics, agricultural and healthcare drones: they are now or later to become indispensable. The government meets this great need in society for fast and reliable mobile communication. We do this with the proposal for the auction of the required frequency space and our decision in line with EU agreements to protect networks against unreliable suppliers."
Under the proposed terms of the auction, frequencies in the 700, 1400 and 2100MHz bands will be dived in a multi-round auction. The auction is set to be private with no information on the number of participants or their names. However, once completed the winning companies will be announced and the State Secretary will make the bidding process public. The proposed reserved price is set at €900 million and participating companies will have access to a maximum 40% of the total available frequencies.
Launched December 5, the consultation will run for six weeks with the auction set to begin before 30 June 2020. Following this, the auction of the 3.5GHz frequency band will begin at the start of 2022.