French telecoms regulator Arcep has revealed the results of its main auction for spectrum in the 3.4GHz-3.8GHz bands in the French overseas territory (departement d’outre-mer, DOM) of French Guiana and the French overseas collectivities (collectivites d’outre-mer, or COMs) of Saint Barthelemy and Saint-Martin.
Regarding French Guiana, a total of four blocks with predetermined positions were available for allocation: Block 1 (50MHz), Blocks 2 and 3 (60MHz) and Block 4 (70MHz). Free Mobile won Block 1 (3480MHz-3530MHz) for EUR0, while Digicel secured Block 2 (3530MHz-3590MHz) for EUR10,082 (USD10,832). Orange walked away with Block 3 (3670MHz-3730MHz) for EUR10,000, while SFR agreed to pay EUR710,114 for Block 4 (3730MHz-3800MHz).
Regarding Saint-Barthelemy and Saint-Martin, the regulator will award a total of 100MHz of 3.4GHz-3.8GHz spectrum each to Dauphin Telecom, Digicel and Orange, while Free will receive 80MHz in the band. The firms will be awarded 50MHz (30MHz for Free) initially as part of the main allocation procedure, with an additional 50MHz to be distributed to each operator against certain commitments. Arcep is now scheduled to hold a second ‘positioning’ auction to determine the final allocations in the two COMs.
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