Telecom groups moderately satisfied with mobile auction rules
Among telecommunications companies, enthusiasm for the structure of the mobile spectrum auction is limited. Industry leader Swisscom considers the bidding restrictions for the mobile spectrum auction to be too strict. Sunrise complains about exactly the opposite. And Salt isn't happy either.
"The planned bidding restrictions mean that Swisscom will not be able to acquire frequency spectrum in line with its market share," explained Swisscom spokesperson Armin Schädeli on Friday in response to an inquiry. As before, the largest Swiss telecommunications group will therefore have less frequencies per customer than its competitors.
Threat of appeal
The competition takes a completely different view: Sunrise and Salt find the bidding restrictions far too lax. This allows the industry leader, which is majority state-owned, to bid for and hoard half of the coveted frequencies in the 700 megahertz band. The restrictions are also too loose for the high frequencies in the 3.5 to 3.8 gigahertz band. Salt and Sunrise had originally argued for the frequencies to be allocated in equal shares. "A rapid nationwide introduction of 5G on all three existing mobile communications infrastructures would have been in the interests of Switzerland's competitiveness," complained Sunrise. This is now jeopardized by the auction process.
"There is a great risk that Swisscom will use its financial strength to acquire more spectrum than is absolutely necessary in order to prevent its competitors from obtaining the critical minimum bandwidth. This is harmful to competition and detrimental to consumers and Switzerland as a business location," said a Salt spokesperson. The third-largest mobile provider is threatening to appeal to the Federal Administrative Court.
Controversial timing
Opinions also differ on the timing of the auction. Swisscom would have liked the 5G frequencies to be awarded this year. "A quick award is a prerequisite for an early 5G launch," said Schädeli. The Federal Communications Commission Comcom has set the auction for January. Following the expiry of an appeal period, the allocation should take place around next spring, Comcom President Stephan Netzle explained to the media in Bern.
Sunrise and Salt had opposed an auction before the end of the year. They had argued that there was no point in paying for frequencies that could not yet be used. After all, the end devices for customers were not yet available. Netzle ignored the objections: "It's not about finding an agreement. We have not carried out a vote among the operators. You will find different degrees of satisfaction at Swisscom, Sunrise and Salt," said the Comcom President. (SDA)
