Germany Delays Telecom Auction in Exchange for Rural Access
- Carriers must agree to give 50 Mbps access to 99.5% of Germany
- 1&1 must be granted shared use of frequencies below 1 GHz
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Germany said it would delay an auction for rights to airwaves, a regular event that can cost phone carriers billions of euros, in order to encourage network coverage in rural areas.
Germany’s Bundesnetzagentur said that carriers can extend the rights for three key frequencies, due to expire at the end of next year, for an additional five years for a total, combined fee of about €600 million ($648 million), the regulator said on Monday.