Page 119 - SAMENA Trends - August 2020

REGULATORY & POLICY UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

Poe chairs, on 1 July 2019. At that meeting, Senate Poe now acknowledges that those minimums are low
President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto had reportedly compared to many seen in other countries across the
proposed a minimum internet download speed of globe. Nonetheless, she pointed out the urgent need
10Mbps for mobile broadband/internet access, to legislate for new minimum internet service speeds,
and 20Mbps for fixed and fixed-wireless platforms. pointing out the exigent need for improvement due to
Further, the Bill noted that service providers should ‘the shift to online transactions and learning amid the
also ‘work towards providing an average internet coronavirus pandemic’, among other things.
connection speed above global average’, although (July 31, 2020) commsupdate.com

The Polish government is expecting to hold its auction process had simply been paused then restarted, she
of 5G-capable spectrum in the 3.4GHz-3.8GHz band said it could have led to legal action from one of the
in early 2021, having cancelled the awards process potential bidders, which would have delayed the award
earlier this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. of spectrum even longer. ‘It was a difficult decision –
Poland Deputy Minister of Digitization Wanda Buk said in an we chose the lesser evil,’ she said. Telecoms regulator
interview with Dziennik Gazeta Prawna: ‘I believe that
UKE has said it plans to open a new consultation on the
the allocation of the C-band block to operators will take awards process ahead of the new auction.
place in the first quarter of 2021.’ She added that the (July 30, 2020) commsupdate.com
auction cancellation was the best option; if the original

Slovenia’s Agency for Communications Networks spectrum caps as part of the sale which include new
& Services (Agencija za komunikacijska omrezja in and existing licenses. Each bidder will be limited to:
storitve, AKOS) has laid out a number of requirements 2×35MHz across the 700MHz, 800MHz and 900MHz
for winning bidders in its long-awaited auction of 5G bands; 190MHz of unpaired frequencies in the 2.3GHz
spectrum, which is expected to take place later this and 3.6GHz bands; 800MHz unpaired at 26GHz; and
Slovenia year. The regulator is planning to sell 5G-capable 425MHz combined in the 700MHz, 2100MHz, 2.3GHz
spectrum in the 700MHz, 3.6GHz and 26GHz ranges, as and 3.6GHz ranges, including pre-existing rights of
well as complementary frequencies at 1500MHz and use in the 800MHz, 900MHz, 1800MHz and 2.6GHz
2.3GHz, while at the same time offering up spectrum bands. Operators with less than 2×30MHz spectrum
in the 2100MHz band which is currently included in below 1GHz will be required to provide bit rates of at
licenses due to expire in September 2021. Winning least 10Mbps downstream and 2Mbps upstream, while
bidders are required to have 5G services in at least licensees with more than 2×30MHz below 1GHz will
one major city within one year of the license awards, need to offer rates of at least 30Mbps/3Mbps (down/
and be using all acquired frequencies within five years up). All licenses will be technology neutral. State-
to provide coverage of all major cities. The 700MHz backed fixed and mobile operator Telekom Slovenije
band carries additional coverage requirements, recently launched the country’s first commercial 5G
including 99% of motorways and 60% of all train lines network using its existing 2600MHz spectrum.
and main roads by December 2025. In an effort to (August 4, 2020) commsupdate.com
promote competition in the market, AKOS has also set

The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital services. A limit of 2×15MHz per operator has been
Transformation (Ministerio de Asuntos Economicos established for the 5G-suitable 700MHz band, which
y Transformacion Digital) has approved a Ministerial will be freed up by 31 October 2020 and auctioned
Order modifying the National Table of Attribution in the first quarter of 2021. Running in parallel, the
of Frequencies (Cuadro Nacional de Atribucion de Ministry has imposed a maximum limit of 2×35MHz per
Spain Frecuencias, CNAF), which imposes a cap on the amount operator for all paired spectrum blocks in the 800MHz
of spectrum in the 694MHz-790MHz (700MHz) band and 900MHz bands.
that an operator is able to use for mobile broadband (July 22, 2020) commsupdate.com

119 AUGUST 2020