Spain gets Coverage Layer 5G Spectrum in 700 MHz Band

The Spanish operators just secured 700 MHz of spectrum in the auctions that just concluded. Spain's Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation has details here and the PDF of final results is here. TelecomTV nicely summarises the results as follows:

Spain’s auction of 700 MHz spectrum for 5G services was concluded in just one day, with the government raising little more than the minimum reserve prices for the blocks snapped up by Orange, Telefónica and Vodafone: The country’s fourth mobile operator, Másmóvil, did not participate.

Orange paid the starting price of €350 million for two blocks of 2x5 MHz spectrum. Vodafone also paid the reserve price of €350 million for its 2x10 MHz of capacity.

Only Telefónica (Movistar) paid above the minimum required: It shelled out €310.089 million for its 2x10 MHz (the starting price for that tranche had been €270 million). 

The spectrum licensed can be used for downlink and uplink connectivity, which is what the operators need for their 5G service offerings: The 700 MHz band enables operators to extend the reach of their next-gen mobile networks outdoors (so it is particularly useful for non-urban areas) and to better penetrate buildings with their 5G signals and so is attracting increasing operator investment, with China Mobile having just announced the results of its initial 700 MHz 5G radio access network equipment tender. 

In total, then, the Spanish government raised just over €1.01 billion: In the scheme of things that’s not much for the government coffers but it also isn’t sapping the operators of funds that can be used to build out their networks. Three blocks of 5 MHz spectrum that could be used only for downlink connections were not taken up by the operators and have been classified by Spain’s Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation as “deserted.”

5G Observatory points out:

The fourth mobile operator in terms of market share, Masmovil, opted out of the process earlier this month. Players did not bid for any of the 5MHz blocks of non-paired spectrum available and the auction did not reach the 2.1 billion EUR target set by the regulator.

All licences will be valid for a period of 20 years and extendable for a further 20-year period. The operators are obligated to activate 5G services in 450 localities with populations above 50,000 by the end of June 2025, as well as covering the country’s largest airports, train stations and motorways.

This was Spain’s second sale of 5G-suitable spectrum, following an auction covering the 3.6GHz to 3.8GHz bands in 2018. A third and last 5G spectrum auction, this time in the 26GHz band, is planned to take place before the end of the year.

Source: Xataka Movil

A statement from Orange Spain is available here.

A statement from Vodafone with a summary of Spectrum they hold is available here.

A statement from Telefonica with a summary of Spectrum they hold is available here.

Related Posts:

• Operator Watch Blog: Spain's 5G Spectrum Auction Winners
• Operator Watch Blog: 5G to get Better in Spain Next Year
• Operator Watch Blog - MásMóvil: Mass operator of Spain 

MásMóvil: Mass operator of Spain

Masmovil Group is the fourth largest converging telecommunications operator in Spain that provides fixed, mobile and broadband Internet services for residential, business and wholesale, through its main brands: Yoigo, Pepephone, MASMOVIL, Lebara and Llamaya.

The group relies on a fiber/ADSL network for broadband and 3G and 4G network for mobile telephony. By the end of 2019, it had reached more than 14.4 million fiber households and 18 million homes with ADSL. The companies’ 4G mobile network covers 98.5% of the Spanish population. The Group has 7.5 million customers in Spain. Additionally, it is the operator with the fastest fiber network in Spain according to a study by the company, nPerf, and the operator with the fastest 3G+4G aggregated mobile network in Spain, according to a study by the company, Tutela.



Masmovil have now acquired Lycamobile Spain, for €372m. Lycamobile Spain launched in 2010 with the aim of delivering low-cost mobile services of the highest quality to the market. The Company has since become the country’s leading MVNO, achieving impressive market penetration with over 1.5 million customers. The sale allows Lycamobile to continue its growth in existing and new markets and Masmovil to retain the Lycamobile brand in Spain.

Masmovil’s acquisition of the Company is an affirmation of the accomplishment of Lycamobile in the market.

However this is the latest in several lucrative acquisitions for Masmovil, for example :

Highlights from #MásMóvil Group's impressive list of acquisitions:

• 2014-2015 it acquired: Quantum Telecom, Neo Sky, Embou Nuevas Tecnologias, as well as VOIP provider Xtra Telecom including its #MVNO Happy Movil.

• 2016: Acquired the MNO Yoigo for €612m

— YOZZO (@Yozzo) March 2, 2020

• 2016: Acquired the MVNO Pepephone for €158m with 460K subs and sales of around €64m in 2015. The MVNO was hosted on Movistar.

• 2017: Acquired the ethnic MVNO Llamaya for €41.7m with around 170K subs and sales of €22.5m in 2016. The MVNO was hosted on Orange at the time.

— YOZZO (@Yozzo) March 2, 2020

• 2020: Acquired the regional (Galician) MVNO Oceans for €1.

.…and we haven’t even begun to discuss its recent activities to enter the Portuguese market

— YOZZO (@Yozzo) March 2, 2020

Masmovil has said that Lycamobile’s 1.5 million customers will take its total connections to 10.4 million: at end-December 2019 the combined figure for mobile and broadband subscribers stood at 8.9 million Lycamobile is expected to contribute more than €75 million in EBITDA from 2021, mostly in savings from using Masmovil’s networks. Masmovil will retain the Lycamobile brand for the foreseeable future.

In a separate statement, Lyca Group founder and chairman Allirajah Subaskaran, said the traditionally MVNO geared company will turn its attention to expanding its global presence through MNO launches in new markets.

A bit of context to @grupomasmovil's acquisition of Lycamobile (1.5M SIMs): Másmóvil takes all of fixed broadband customer growth in Spain - but perhaps not really all of the mobile customer growth as Movistar also had some pic.twitter.com/qhrkdWZt4w

— tefficient 🚥 (@tefficient) March 2, 2020

Further Reading:

• Spain's 5G Spectrum Auction Winners

Spain's 5G Spectrum Auction Winners

Source: Elena Neira

The above picture summarises the total amount of spectrum holding by all Spanish mobile network operators. Movistar is a major telecommunications brand owned by Telefónica, operating in Spain and in many Hispanic American countries. Yoigo, legally Xfera Móviles S.A., is the fourth largest mobile network operator in Spain, subsidiary of the Spanish telecommunications company Grupo MásMóvil.

According to Mobile World Live:

Telefonica, Orange Spain and Vodafone Spain took the spoils in the country’s auction of 200 MHz in 5G-suitable frequencies, which netted authorities more than four times the original asking price.

Vodafone Spain won the largest allocation on offer, securing 90 MHz in the 3.7GHz band for €198 million. Telefonica paid €107 million for 50 MHz across the 3.6GHz-3.8GHz bands, while Orange Spain paid around €132 million for 60 MHz also across the frequency range offered.

Each operator will pay in annual installments, with the balance accruing interest each year. Including interest, spectrum reservation costs and other previously levied fees related to the auction, the Ministry of Economy and Enterprise said the treasury would earn €1.4 billion from the tender.

Spain’s other operator, MasMovil, competed in the auction but didn’t add any further 5G-suitable spectrum to the 80 MHz it obtained earlier this year from two separate deals.

The operator acquired 40 MHz from satellite company Eurona and then matched that allocation as part of its acquisition of B2B service provider Neutra Network.

The auction total surpassed the €100 million reserve price with ease and MasMovil and Telefonica were quick to note rivals had paid a greater sum for their allocations.

In a statement to Mobile World Live MasMovil said it had paid an average of €0.57 million per MHz, while the average in the auction was €2.2 million for the same amount.  

Telefonica said it “applied criteria of rationality in the auction that has allowed it to obtain the desired spectrum by paying the lowest price per MHz of all the bidders in it.”

All licences are valid for 20 years.

Analyst John Delaney notes that Spain's mobile operators paid €438 million for 200 MHz of 5G spectrum while in April, UK operators paid £1.15 billion for 150MHz.