ANACOM proposes to extend licences until 2033, in return operators must improve coverage
MEO and Vodafone’s licences are about to expire: Portugal’s National Communications Authority (ANACOM) looks set to renew part of the spectrum holdings of MEO and Vodafone in the 900MHz and 1800MHz bands. On 4 May 2021, the regulator issued a draft decision on the renewal requests filed by the two operators for the licences expiring in October 2021 for Vodafone, and in March 2022 for MEO. A consultation on ANACOM’s draft decision is open until 31 May 2021.
Aligning different expiry dates will be a challenge: Operator’s spectrum licences across the 900MHz and 1800MHz bands are quite fragmented. The spectrum holdings of the three operators expire in four different moments in time between October 2021 and November 2027, as shown in Table 1.
ANACOM notes that it is not possible to bring all these spectrum holdings in line with a single expiry date, because the rights of use cannot be renewed for less than 10 years. ANACOM considers that the second best option is to align MEO and Vodafone’s licences with the expiry date of 2.1GHz licences in 2033. As a result, ANACOM proposes to renew these spectrum licenses until 21 April 2033. The decision does not affect the licences expiring in 2027, for which there is no change. It is worth noting that the ongoing 5G auction is assigning lots in the 900MHz and 1800MHz for 20 years, meaning some spectrum holdings in those two bands will expire in 2031. ANACOM will assess options to harmonise these rights at a later stage.
ANACOM wants more coverage of low-density areas: On granting the renewal, ANACOM would impose new coverage obligations. MEO and Vodafone will have to cover 56 and 44 low population density parishes respectively, guaranteeing a mobile broadband service with a minimum speed of 100Mbps to 90% of the population within them. The two MNOs would have until 30 June 2022 to agree on which parishes to cover, and not be able to choose parishes in which they have coverage obligations arising from the multiband auction of 2011 or from the renewal of 2.1GHz licences.
