The country is the last EU Member State to make the band available for 5G.
The Netherlands’ three national mobile operators KPN, Odido and Vodafone Ziggo all received 100 MHz of spectrum in the 5G pioneer band. In total, the auction raised €174.4 million in revenues, with KPN and Odido both paying €58.4 million, and Vodafone Ziggo shelling out €57.5 million. The licences will be valid until December 31, 2040.
According to the latest 5G Observatory report, the Netherlands was the last country in the European Union to assign the 3.6 GHz band. The band has now been majority assigned (meaning at least 200 MHz made available) in all 27 Member States.
The Dutch auction has had a long history. It was originally scheduled to take place in 2022, but was postponed to address concerns from Inmarsat about protections for satellite services being withdrawn in the band.
In April 2023, Schiphol Airport and the Port of Rotterdam Authority sued the government over its plans to designate more 3.5 GHz bandwidth for private networks. In October 2023, however, Inmarsat agreed to move its operations from the Netherlands to Greece. In December 2023, a Rotterdam court ruled in favour of the government in all eight appeals against the 3.5 GHz auction plans.
