The European Commission says the two countries are not complying with the Radio Spectrum rules.
Background: The EC adopted a “700MHz decision” in May 2017, which required member states to adopt a roadmap so that the 700MHz band is available for mobile broadband by June 2020.
What’s new? These roadmaps had to be published by June 2018. Croatia and Netherlands have not yet published a detailed roadmap. It is also worth noting that the Netherlands had planned a multi-band auction, including 700MHz spectrum, for 2019. This is now likely to be pushed back to 2020.
What’s next? The infringement procedure will now commence. The EC is trying to do all it can to ensure countries pick up the pace in the awards of spectrum for 5G, on which Europe is worryingly lagging behind.
