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The auction process for two blocks of radio frequencies began on Monday, the Luxembourg Regulatory Institute (ILR) said on 13 July.

The frequencies will be used for 5G services, which theoretically could be up 1,000 times faster than today’s 4G networks.

Eltrona, Luxembourg Online, Orange, Post and Proximus were qualified as bidders on 11 June.

The telecommunications companies are chasing two different sets of spectrum. The first set of frequencies total 60MHz (703-733MHz and 758-788MHz) and have been dubbed the 700MHz band. The second adds up to 330MHz (3420MHz-3730MHz) and is called the 3600MHz band.

The government set a reserve price of €562,000 for each 2MHz of the spectrum in the 700MHz block and €30,000 per 1MHz in the 3600MHz range.

Licenses will be granted for 15 years with “at least one” 5 year extension possible.

The auctions will be held under a two-part process. The ILR stated that the “auctions may last several days. The names of the operators who have been able to acquire the 5G frequencies cannot be revealed before the end of the auction.”

The ILR said it was the first time that auction procedures had been used. Previous spectrum rights contents had the same number of bidders and licenses or were granted via a public procurement process.