The German Bundesnetzagentur said it plans to auction the 700MHz bands in May and June this year.
The frequencies – which will be vacated by the transition of digital terrestrial television from the DVB-T standard to the more efficient DVB-T2 – will gradually be used from 2017 for the provision of fast mobile internet access to rural regions.
Germany is the first country in Europe to release the 700MHz frequency band for sale. The regulator will also auction the 900MHz and 1800MHz frequencies, the permits for which expire at the end of 2016.
This year’s auction could yield approximately €4.5 billion, Heike Pauls, a telecoms analyst at Commerzbank told Reuters. Deutsche Telekom and Vodafone could spend €1.6 billion each, while Telefonica Deutschland could spend €1.3 billion, she added.
The deadline for applications to take part in the auction is March 6 2015. The auction is scheduled for the second quarter of 2015.
