The Netherlands will probably only auction 3.5GHz-5G frequencies after October 2022 – IT Pro – News
The Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs expects to be able to carry out the 5G frequency auction for 3.5GHz only on October 1, 2022. The government must first adjust the National Frequency Plan, which is expected to come into effect on 1 October.
The expectation that the frequency auction will not take place until October is apparent from a message from the central government. This post is about the independent advisory committee that will be given until May 1 next year to advise on how that auction can best take place. On the basis of this advice, the cabinet and the Ministry of Economic Affairs are amending the National Frequency Plan. This amended plan is expected to enter into force on October 1. Only then can the 3.5 GHz frequency band be auctioned, the national government writes.
Drawing up the committee between satellite company Inmars and the national government Inmarsat now has a ground station in Friesland, which is used, among other things, to provide emergency communication with ships at sea. Used Inmarsat frequencies in the 3.5GHz band. The ministry wanted to use those frequencies for 5G, knowing that the deployment of 5G would be disrupted. Inmarsat was meant to move abroad.
The company therefore stepped in to prevent the government’s plan. The preliminary relief judge ruled in favor of Inmarsat and forbade the government to change the National Frequency Plan just like that, thereby making Inmarsat impossible. This was partly due to the emergency communication provided by inmarsat and partly due to the fact that the changes to the Frequency Plan had been ‘obviously negligently prepared’, according to the judge.
Earlier, the ministry indicated to plan an advisory committee; this should initially have started in October. Following the advice in the first quarter of 2022, according to earlier planning. The committee must find a solution to the problems between 5G and Inmarsat. Based on this outdated schedule, the ministry said the 3.5GHz-5G auction would “certainly” be delayed. Originally, the auction should have taken place in April 2022 and the 3.5GHz frequencies could be used for 5G in September of that year. It is not known when providers can now use those frequencies for 5G.
Hans de Jong, former president and current supervisory director at Philips, will become chairman of the advisory committee. Other members are Bart Smolders, professor and dean of Electrical Engineering at Eindhoven University of Technology, Jan Willem Velthuijsen, chief economist at PWC Netherlands and Johan Wolswinkel, Professor of Administrative Law, Market and Data at Tilburg University. The 3.5GHz frequency band is seen as an important band for 5G, as it can enable faster data connections with less latency than is currently possible.