Netherlands: 3 companies buy high-speed frequencies in Dutch auction

 5G antenna

The Hague, Jul 21 (AP/PTI) A Dutch government auction of frequencies that can be used by mobile telecom companies to provide new, high-speed 5G communications raised 1.23 billion euros (USD 1.4 billion), the minister responsible for the sale said Tuesday.

Three companies, KPN, T-Mobile and VodafoneZiggo, bought bandwidth, said State Secretary for Economic Affairs Mona Keijzer said.

The online auction of 700, 1,400 and 2,100 megahertz frequencies began June 29, with the government saying it should raise a minimum of 900 million euros (USD 1 billion).

KPN said it spent 416 million euros on a total of 75MHz of spectrum for a period of 20 years.

The new licenses allow us to further improve the quality of our mobile services and we are excited to soon launch 5G services for our customers, KPN CEO Joost Farwerck said in a statement.