The BIPT proposes granting temporary licences in the band, while local and national governments reach an agreement over how to share any auction revenue.
Background: The Belgian regulator, the BIPT has been planning to carry out a spectrum auction for 5G for some time now. In 2018, it proposed to award spectrum in the 700MHz, 1.4GHz, and 3.6GHz bands, with a view to carry out the auction in 2019. However, during Q1 2019 it became apparent that the allocation could not go ahead, since the Federal Government and Regional Governments could not reach an agreement on how to share the resulting revenue. As media policy is devolved to regional governments, the regions called for a share bigger than the usual 20% because 5G is poised to foster greater use of media services. The dispute is still unresolved at the time of writing.
The BIPT offers a temporary solution: On 31 January 2020, the BIPT proposed a way out of the impasse. 2G and 3G licences (900MHz, 1800MHz, 2GHz), which expire on 15 March 2021, would be temporarily extended for an additional six-months period. This would make sure they do not lose validity, and grant sufficient time to prepare the next auction, which is now expected to take place during 2021. The BIPT also notes the need to award the 700MHz and the 3.6GHz band by 30 June 2020 and 31 December 2020, respectively, in compliance with EU directives. Regardless of that, the BIPT is aware that the uncertainty and the consequent delays have a damaging effect on investment in 5G and on its timely deployment. To mitigate these effects, the BIPT will award temporary licences for the 200MHz available in the 3.6GHz band. Each operator will be able to request between 20MHz and 50MHz, and the size of the lots awarded will also depend on demand.
Next steps: Operators will now have until 28 February 2020 to request their temporary authorisations. Despite the BIPT’s efforts to minimise disruption, operators are unlikely to welcome this outcome, which provides no real certainty or predictability – particularly over the amount of spectrum each of them will hold in the 3.6GHz band in the long-term.
