Finland’s regulator Traficom finished the country’s third auction of 5G spectrum just a few hours after it began, with major operators all winning mmWave blocks.

Elisa, Telia and Telenor Group-owned DNA each paid €7 million for an 800MHz block of 26GHz spectrum, which will be available from 1 July. In separate statements, Elisa and Telia noted the fee will be paid in five annual instalments.

Jarkko Laari, DNA’s director of radio networks, stated the operator’s purchase “secured its future competitiveness in the 5G market” because the new spectrum will enable capacity expansions “long into the future” and open the door to “an even wider range of 5G applications”.

Telia explained the spectrum will enable gigabit connections, allowing it to offer an alternative to high-speed home broadband in urban areas, and serve low-latency use cases including smart city and industrial applications.

The auction followed earlier sales of spectrum in the 700MHz and 3.5GHz bands.

All three operators offer commercial 5G services: Elisa launched in June 2018, Telia in October 2019 and DNA in January 2020.