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Orange Polska SAUPDATE: Poland's telco regulator sets starting price for 700, 800 MHz bands auction at PLN 356 mln
The starting price for the auction of the 700 and 800 MHz bands will be PLN 356 million (EUR 82 mln), Poland's telecom market regulator UKE said in a presentation at a press conference.
UKE inaugurated the auction of the 700 and 800 MHz bands on Friday. The deadline for initial bids at the auction is January 27, 2025, at 3 pm local time. The subject of the auction is seven frequency reservations.
"We had originally planned that the auction for each of the six blocks in the 700 MHz band would start at PLN 580 million and the 800 MHz block at PLN 635 million," said the head of UKE Jacek Oko, quoted in the press release following the conference.
"We called for substantive and well-argued positions in the consultation. We are pleased that such positions have been received. Our attention was drawn to the extensive and detailed methodology presented by the consulting firm PwC, which can be found in Orange's position paper," he added.
As the head of Poland's telecom market regulator reported, the implied value of a block in the 700 MHz band was determined in the range of PLN 269-356 million (EUR 62.2-82 mln) - and UKE has adopted PLN 356 million (EUR 82 mln) as the starting price.
"We have adopted the same price for the 800 MHz band. Taking into account that we are putting seven blocks up for sale and demand may be eight, market mechanisms will still lead to the actual valuation of this band," he added.
Oko continued that the second change is the reduction of bandwidth from 140 Mbps to 120 Mbps, which 99 percent of households are to be covered by the end of 2030.
"These proposals have also come through in several posts and have met with our understanding," the head of UKE said.
"We believe that, in particular, the reduced starting price will be an impulse for bandwidth winners to invest more than the quality expectations included in the decisions," he added.
Oko said that he tentatively estimates that, if nothing unexpected happens, the frequencies will already be commercially usable by the auction winners in June.
As a result of the auction, a participant may obtain a maximum of two frequency bookings.
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