By Patrick Costello

 

A court in Germany on Friday dismissed emergency motions filed by Deutsche Telekom (DTE.XE), Telefonica Deutschland (O2D.XE) and Vodafone Germany against the country's upcoming 5G spectrum auction, clearing the path for a state-run auction for 5G mobile frequencies to be held next week.

The three telecoms providers sought to delay the start of the 5G auction, saying the conditions imposed by regulators were "unreasonable," lacked legal clarity and couldn't be fulfilled with the frequencies being auctioned.

The Federal Network Agency, the national telecoms regulator overseeing the auction, is requiring auction winners to fulfill certain coverage requirements and share their networks with competitors, a practice known as national roaming, in return for receiving spectrum.

But the court said these conditions were justified, adding that the Federal Network Agency acted within its boundaries in setting them. The "significant public interest" in a timely auction also outweighs telecoms providers' concerns, the court said.

A spokesman for Telefonica Deutschland said the company is aware of the ruling but noted that a separate legal challenge against the auction conditions is still pending.

"If the court finally upholds the claims it could lead to a case where an auction that already took place based on these rulings would have to be declared void," he said. "In our view, this could do far more harm to network rollout than a slight delay of the auction itself to allow a redesign of the auction rules."

Vodafone Germany said it is currently assessing the decision and wouldn't give further details. Deutsche Telekom couldn't be reached for comment.

The auction of frequencies on the 2 GHz, 3.4 GHz and 3.7 GHz spectrum will begin on March 19, according to the Federal Network Agency. Deutsche Telekom, Telefonica Deutschland, Vodafone Germany and 1&1 Drillisch (DRI.XE) have been admitted as participants.

 

Write to Patrick Costello at patrick.costello@dowjones.com.

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 15, 2019 10:38 ET (14:38 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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