Deutsche Telekom slammed the final draft of Germany’s 5G auction conditions, published by the country’s regulator last week, for setting the wrong priorities and said the process was doomed.

In a statement sent to Mobile World Live, the operator said the terms outlined went far beyond conditions Bundesnetzagentur had previously considered to be reasonable and proportionate.

“Such a wrongly-dimensioned expansion is economically unrealistic, sets wrong priorities, will fail due to bureaucratic obstacles and ignores the fundamentals of physics,” an operator representative said.

“In addition, the unclear provisions on national roaming in the current draft entail considerable risks for investing companies that are difficult to assess. The decision on such billion euro investments, and thus on the success of 5G in Germany, requires proportionality and legal certainty. Both should be ensured until the final decision on the award conditions on 26 November.”

The comments follow the publication of Germany’s draft terms for the country’s upcoming auction of spectrum for 5G-suitable frequencies, scheduled to take place in 2019. The draft rules will be discussed by the regulator’s council on 26 November.

In the weeks prior to its publication, Deutsche Telekom, the GSMA and Telefonica Germany levelled hefty criticism of proposals outlined in an initial draft (published in August) and other terms rumoured to be due for inclusion in the final version.