The decision paves the way for the Ministry to hold its planned auction of the band next year.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs & Climate Policy has announced that a court has ruled in favour of the Ministry on all eight appeals against its plans to update the frequency allocation table of the 3.6 GHz band.
The Ministry says that this decision means that pending any further appeals, it can continue preparations for its planned auction of the band.
Various stakeholders were against the Ministry’s plan, including Dutch mobile operators KPN, Odido and VodafoneZiggo, as well as prospective and current users of local licences in the band such as Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport and the Port of Rotterdam Authority.
The Netherlands remains the only country in the European Union which has yet to assign the 3.5 GHz band to mobile operators.
A major reason for this delay has been a lawsuit launched by satellite operator Inmarsat which operates a large ground station in the Netherlands using the 3.6 GHz band. Inmarsat sued the Dutch government in 2021 over its plan to revoke its licences. Later it worked out a deal that would involve moving its operations to Greece.
