German regulator raises minimum bids to hurry up epic 5G auction

FRANKFURT: Germany’s federal network regulator on Wednesday ramped up minimum bids in a bid to wrap up the country’s 6 billion euro ($6.8 billion) 5G mobile spectrum auction, which has dragged on for months.

The auction, which started on March 19, is now into a record 467th round – more than double the last record set in 2010. Critics say its design is skewed towards maximising revenues and lacks a clear mechanism to draw matters to a close.

For weeks, bids have crept up by a couple of million euros in each round as auction teams, cooped up in a former army barracks in the western city of Mainz, waged a desultory contest for one or two of the 41 spectrum blocks up for grabs.