LTE spectrum auction in France to commence this month

France will start the auction of LTE spectrum later this month, the country’s industry minister, Eric Besson has confirmed. He also confirmed speculation that the bidders will have limits imposed on how much spectrum they can buy to ensure the major operators do not dominate the market.

The government is aiming to raise US$3 billion from the spectrum sale.

The spectrum cap will be set at 15MHz per operator for the digital dividend spectrum in the 800MHz bands, which is generally the most desirable block as it helps the operators deploy coverage with fewer base stations, especially in low use rural areas.

A total of 30MHz is being offered, split into four blocks.

Smaller operators have however criticised the spectrum cap, saying that it should have been set at 10MHz per operator as the current cap could, in theory, enable just two companies to buy up all the available spectrum and lock the smaller operators out of the market.