Citymesh Mobile has emerged as a fourth operator in the Belgian market by securing spectrum in all the bands on offer.
The Belgian regulator BIPT has announced the winners of its 5G auction. Spectrum licences were available in the 700 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2.1 GHz and 3.6 GHz bands. The auction raised a total of €1.2 billion.
The three established mobile operators – Orange Belgium, Proximus and Telenet – all acquired 100 MHz of mid-band spectrum. The new market entrant Citymesh won 50 MHz in the 3.6 GHz band and 2 x 5 MHz in the 700 MHz band. This new swath of spectrum is expected to be used for 5G services.
Citymesh is currently focused on private networks. With its newly acquired spectrum, the company plans to develop a country-wide network. The company has also announced a partnership with Romanian telecommunications group Digi.
“Citymesh already delivers mobile services to the business market,” said chief executive Mitch De Geest. “Thanks to the additional spectrum, Citymesh can start offering a hybrid mobile strategy, roaming from private to a public network and back.”
