Regulator advises against delaying 4G and 5G spectrum auction
The Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) says the government should not delay the spectrum auction by about a year and a half to add the Upper 6 GHz band, because the uncertainty is too great.
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Illustrative photo: Steven Lek / CC BY-SA 4.0
The ACM, the Dutch Authority for Consumers and Markets, advises against delaying the upcoming spectrum auction to include the Upper 6 GHz band. It gave the advice to the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate, which asked for it in summer 2026.
The licences for the 800, 900, 1800 and 2600 MHz bands expire in May 2030. The bands will be re-allocated in a multiband auction (multibandveiling). They are an essential part of the frequencies needed to meet demand for mobile communication, the ACM says.
The ministry is considering adding the Upper 6 GHz band to the auction. It says the auction would then have to be delayed by about a year and a half to allow time for preparation.
The ACM concludes that auctioning the Upper 6 GHz band together with the others has benefits. But these do not appear to outweigh the high level of uncertainty, it says.
The regulator says the uncertainty stems mainly from two things: the EU's Digital Networks Act has not yet been definitively adopted, and many technical conditions for the Upper 6 GHz band are still unknown.
Source: ACM
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