Government gives up on 5G auction

WELLINGTON: The Government has given up on a planned auction of radio spectrum to get 5G up and running as soon as possible, and will instead offer allocations to Spark New Zealand, 2degrees mobile and wholesaler Dense Air.

The Government had planned to auction the early access 3.5GHz band spectrum but stopped that when the Covid19 pandemic hit, disrupting the economy. Yesterday, the radio spectrum management unit of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment said it would instead offer direct allocations: 60MHz each to Spark and 2degrees and 40MHz to Dense Air.

Vodafone New Zealand already had enough 3.5GHz spectrum to launch its commercial 5G network last year, giving it a headstart over its rivals.

The interim auction had had the blessing of the Maori Council and 50MHz was set aside for iwi interests. The Government had initially wanted to auction the spectrum earlier but heeded a call from the council to slow down.

Iwi missed out on a special allocation in the 4G spectrum auction in 2013, and instead received a $30 million development fund to help Maori benefit from the new technology.

Like Vodafone, Spark has been banking on 5G mobile technology to let it switch more customers on to wireless broadband connections, avoiding wholesale charges to network operators.

Londonbased Dense Air is a mobile wholesaler, selling access to its network to retail providers. — BusinessDesk