German Court Dismisses Telcos' Attempt to Delay 5G Auction
15 Março 2019 - 11:53AM
Dow Jones News
By Patrick Costello
A court in Germany on Friday dismissed emergency motions filed
by Deutsche Telekom (DTE.XE), Telefonica Deutschland (O2D.XE) and
Vodafone Germany against the country's upcoming 5G spectrum
auction, clearing the path for a state-run auction for 5G mobile
frequencies to be held next week.
The three telecoms providers sought to delay the start of the 5G
auction, saying the conditions imposed by regulators were
"unreasonable," lacked legal clarity and couldn't be fulfilled with
the frequencies being auctioned.
The Federal Network Agency, the national telecoms regulator
overseeing the auction, is requiring auction winners to fulfill
certain coverage requirements and share their networks with
competitors, a practice known as national roaming, in return for
receiving spectrum.
But the court said these conditions were justified, adding that
the Federal Network Agency acted within its boundaries in setting
them. The "significant public interest" in a timely auction also
outweighs telecoms providers' concerns, the court said.
A spokesman for Telefonica Deutschland said the company is aware
of the ruling but noted that a separate legal challenge against the
auction conditions is still pending.
"If the court finally upholds the claims it could lead to a case
where an auction that already took place based on these rulings
would have to be declared void," he said. "In our view, this could
do far more harm to network rollout than a slight delay of the
auction itself to allow a redesign of the auction rules."
Vodafone Germany said it is currently assessing the decision and
wouldn't give further details. Deutsche Telekom couldn't be reached
for comment.
The auction of frequencies on the 2 GHz, 3.4 GHz and 3.7 GHz
spectrum will begin on March 19, according to the Federal Network
Agency. Deutsche Telekom, Telefonica Deutschland, Vodafone Germany
and 1&1 Drillisch (DRI.XE) have been admitted as
participants.
Write to Patrick Costello at patrick.costello@dowjones.com.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 15, 2019 10:38 ET (14:38 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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