TKK, Austria’s telecoms regulator, announced the completion of the country’s 2.6GHz spectrum auctions, with the four assignments of frequencies picked up by the country’s four incumbent mobile operators. A1 Telekom Austria and Hutchison 3G Austria both acquired 2x20MHz of paired and 25MHz of unpaired spectrum, paying EUR13.2 million and EUR11 million respectively; T-Mobile Austria was assigned 2x20MHz in the paired band for EUR11.2 million; and Orange Austria received 2x10MHz of paired frequencies for EUR4 million. The regulator requires commercial service launch and 25 percent population coverage by the end of 2013. The licences are valid until the end of 2026.

The auctions netted EUR39.5 million in total, which the regulator said was “far higher” than the EUR7.4 million minimum bid level. It said it expects the spectrum to be used “primarily for high-speed mobile broadband services in areas of high population density, for example using LTE technology.” The regulator is using a two-phase licence process: the first stage is the auction to decide how much spectrum each operator gets, while the second determines the actual frequencies assigned to each company, ensuring that fragmentation in spectrum allocations is avoided. The actual allocations are expected to take place in October 2010. A1 says it will launch services “as soon as the relevant permits are issued,” initially serving the capital city of Vienna.