Germany to auction 2 Gigahertz, 3.6 Gigahertz frequencies for 5G

Germany’s Federal Network Regulator (BNetzA) said on Wednesday it would auction spectrum in the 2 Gigahertz and 3.6 Gigahertz frequency ranges that mobile operators will need to launch fifth-generation services.

Final auction conditions will be made available by the end of the year, the BNetzA said in a statement, after confirming on Tuesday that the auctions themselves would not be held until early 2019.

Further frequencies will also be offered for local and regional networks in the 3,700 to 3,800 Megahertz and 26 Gigahertz ranges.

The availability of the new frequencies is vital to rolling out technologies such as “connected” factories or driverless cars.

The German government also hopes that the auctions will raise billions of euros, which it plans to use to upgrade the national broadband network as part of plans to create a so-called Gigabit society by the mid-2020s.