The country’s operators have until April 16 to apply. Dutch regulator Agentschap Telecom will organise an information meeting for potential participants in June.
Spectrum will be available for auction in the 800Mhz band, parts of the 2.1Ghz and 2.6Ghz band, while existing spectrum will be re-auctioned in the 900 and 1800 bands. Applicants are certain to include KPN, Vodafone Netherlands and T-Mobile Netherlands. Tele2 Netherlands and Ziggo-UPC are also likely participants.
The auction process will be conducted online via a combinatorial clock auction. Prices will go up in phases with bidders selecting how many permits they want at a specific price. Three frequency blocks will be reserved for parties which have no low level spectrum. There will be no expectation for winners to roll out services immediately.
No specific date in October has been set for the auction so far.
