The Finnish Ministry of Transport and Communications has decided that the operating licences for commercial use of the 700 MHz frequency bands will be auctioned. The auction, which is to take place at the end of the year, will be arranged by the Finnish Communications Regulatory Authority.
The 700 MHz frequency band has been allocated from television broadcasting to wireless broadband use as of 2017. In order for the commercial use of the frequencies to start as planned, the licences must be granted in 2016. The frequency band can be cost-effectively used for the construction of 4G networks.
Questions related to the use of the band, such as whether to allocate part of the frequencies to the public authority network, must be resolved in the spring. It must also be examined what geographical limitations the spectrum use in Russia may set to the wireless broadband use in Finland.
Provisions on the details of the auction will be laid down in a government decree and a Finnish Communications Regulatory Authority regulation. Provisions regarding the number of frequency bands to be auctioned and their starting bids will be given by a government decree.
The Ministry arranged a hearing for the involved sector on 2 February 2016 on the use of the 700 MHz band and granting of licences.
Previous spectrum auctions took place in 2009 and 2013.
Inquiries:
Ms Kaisa Laitinen, Senior Adviser, tel. +358 295 34 2608, Twitter @kaisa_laitinen
Mr Mikael Nyberg, Director-General, tel. +358 295 34 2474, Twitter @nyberg_mikael
