The Office of the Communications Authority (OFCA) today (July 19) published three information memoranda (IMs) to invite any interested parties to take part in the auctions of the 5G spectrum in the 3.3 GHz, 3.5 GHz and 4.9 GHz bands.

     The Communications Authority (CA) announced on December 13, 2018, its decisions to assign by way of auction a total of 380 MHz of 5G spectrum, namely 100 MHz of spectrum in the 3.3 GHz band, 200 MHz of spectrum in the 3.5 GHz band and 80 MHz of spectrum in the 4.9 GHz band for the provision of 5G services in Hong Kong.

     "The CA will hold auctions of the three frequency bands in succession, starting with the 3.5 GHz band auction to be held on October 14 this year, followed by the 4.9 GHz band auction and then the 3.3 GHz band auction. Parties interested in acquiring the 5G spectrum may have about two months to prepare their applications and submit them to OFCA on September 12 and 13," a spokesperson for OFCA said.

     "The Government has set the auction reserve prices for the use of spectrum in the 3.3 GHz, 3.5 GHz and 4.9 GHz bands at $2 million per MHz, $4 million per MHz and $3 million per MHz respectively. The actual amount of spectrum utilisation fees payable will be determined in the respective auctions," the spokesperson said.

     "To avoid an unduly high concentration of spectrum being held in the hands of a single spectrum assignee, a spectrum cap of 70 MHz will be imposed on any assignee in the 3.5 GHz band auction, and a spectrum cap of 40 MHz will be imposed on any assignee in each of the 3.3 GHz band and 4.9 GHz band auctions," the spokesperson added.

     Detailed arrangements of the three auctions are set out in the respective IMs, which can be downloaded from OFCA's website at:

For the 3.3 GHz band: www.ofca.gov.hk/filemanager/ofca/en/content_1170/3_3_ghz_Auction_IM.pdf  

For the 3.5 GHz band: www.ofca.gov.hk/filemanager/ofca/en/content_1168/3_5_ghz_Auction_IM.pdf

For the 4.9 GHz band: www.ofca.gov.hk/filemanager/ofca/en/content_1169/4_9_ghz_Auction_IM.pdf

Ends/Friday, July 19, 2019
Issued at HKT 16:00

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