City councils, parish councils, operators and private individuals participated in the public consultation on the draft auction regulation for 5G. The auscultation process is part of ANACOM's rules and procedures prior to a decision and, in this case, the procedures of the doleyl regulation, whose project was already detailed in February, are addressed.
The public consultation ended on July 3 and the regulator confirmed to SAPO TEK that it received around 500 contributions, but did not advance the date on which it will disclose the comments received. It should be noted that in the request for contributions, it is emphasized that participants should mention whether there is information they do not want to be publicly disclosed.
With the pandemic of COVID-19, the process of freeing up the spectrum of DTT and the start of the 5G auction had been suspended, being resumed on June 1 with the resumption of activity after the deflation. In addition to the 5G auction, consultation was also underway to change Dense Air Portugal's frequency usage rights, which also ended on July 3.
When confinement was decreed, due to the state of emergency related to the pandemic, 18 working days were left to end the consultation procedure deadline for the draft auction regulation and 13 working days to the consultation and hearing procedure deadline. prior to the change in the DUF held by Dense Air Portugal.
This is yet another step for the auction to proceed, at a date yet to be defined. The 5G timetable that was defined foreseen the auction to start in April, after analyzing the results of the public consultation that would end on March 25. With the new dates, the possibility of launching 5G services is still compromised in 2020, not least because the delay in the migration of DTT further compromises the goals of having services starting this year, since the new calendar extends until December.
When communicating the project with the auction rules and procedures, Joo Cadete de Matos, president of Anacom, had stated that the auction could be closed within two months, concluding the spectrum allocation procedures between June and August this year, which was in line with the plans that Anacom had already defined last year. And the chance of being able to anticipate these dates was advanced, as he stated in response to journalists at the press conference to present the project.
The 5G auction is the basis for the allocation of new generation licenses for mobile networks in Portugal and provides for the possibility of entry of new operators, as well as "ambitious objectives" of coverage. The reserve price was set at 237.9 million euros, adding up all the spectrum bands that are made available. For 700 MHz, Anacom foresees the allocation of six lots of 2 x 5 MHz in the amount of 19.20 million euros. euros each, in the total amount of 115.20 million. For the 3.6 GHz band, 40 10 MHz batches will be available for a total value of approximately 45 million euros.
Coverage targets for 2 cities in 2020
Two cities with 5G coverage, one on the coast and another in the interior, and 90% of the population with fifth generation mobile access are some of the obligations that mobile operators will have to fulfill, but the Resolution of the Council of Ministers advanced some more determinations that will be relevant in the definition of the auction.
The guarantee of 80 to 100 MHz of spectrum in the 3.6 GHz band is one of the determinations of the Government's resolution, which meets the requirements of operators for the quality of 5G. But there are some more ideas that show that the requests of Altice, NOS and Vodafone were heard, such as the determination of a "consultation to fix a new lower value of the annual spectrum usage fees, taking into account that the spectrum width attributed by this procedure will be much higher than currently available, and the values ​​in the table currently practiced may prove to be excessive ", says the document.
During the press conference of the Council of Ministers, it was mentioned that the value of frequencies is not the priority or to receive the maximum revenue, but rather to ensure that companies access the 5G spectrum. The challenge is to finance the digital transition, said the Minister of Infrastructure.
By 2023, all municipalities with more than 75 thousand inhabitants, public hospitals and coastal health centers, political universities, 50% of industrial parks, international airports and military installations, are some of the requirements of the Government, including major highways, much of the railway line, 98% of the metro, main Portuguese ports. In 2025 a large part of the population will also have to be served. "An ambitious timetable for the next 5 years", stresses the minister. The effort will have to be made by the companies that access the auction, but be supported by the Government.
Portugal has been singled out as one of the countries that is lagging behind in the 5G calendar despite the fact that there are other member states of the European Union that have seen procedures delayed due to COVID-19.
