France completes auction of 3.4 – 3.8 GHz band spectrum

France completed a multi-stage auction of 3.4 – 3.8 GHz band spectrum for 5G services.

At the close of the main auction, the winning bidders have committed to paying a total €2,786,000,000 for the 310 MHz of spectrum to be awarded.

Now that the amount of spectrum to be awarded to each of the winning bidders is known, a “positioning” auction will be held in October to determine how their frequencies will be positioned in the 3.4 – 3.8 GHz band. This auction will give the winning bidders an opportunity to express their preferences regarding their position on the band, and their position with respect to the other winning bidders. Once this final stage has been completed, Arcep will award the winning bidders licences to use 3.4 – 3.8 GHz band frequencies.