The new mobile spectrum licenses will be valid for 10 years
The Swedish Post and Telecom Authority (PTS) expects to award a block of spectrum in the 1800 MHz band by the end of 2016.
The telecoms regulator said interested operators have time February 24 to submit written comments about the spectrum auction process.
The Swedish telecoms regulator expects to award a single five megahertz block in the 1800 MHz band. The license will be valid for 10 years and will begin on June 1, 2017.
According to reports, the spectrum auction will take place in the last quarter of the year. The regulator said that the preliminary date for the auction is November 1, and the auction will be conducted via sealed bids.
Mobile operators in the country includes Telia, Tele2, Telenor and Three. The four operators currently offer 4G LTE across the European country. In 2009, Telenor and Tele2 created Net4Mobility, a joint venture to deploy and operate a 4G LTE network in Sweden.
Telia initially launched 4G LTE services in the local market in 2009 and currently offers the service through spectrum in the 800 MHz, 1800 MHz and 2.6 GHz bands. Net4Mobility operates in the 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz and 2.6 GHz bands, while Three offer 4G LTE through the 800 MHz and 1800 MHz bands.
Eight Russian operators to take part in 2.6 GHz spectrum auction
In other EMEA news, Russian telecoms regulator Roskomnadzor confirmed that it has approved eight applicants to participate in a secondary tender for spectrum for the provision of 4G LTE services.
The regulator aims to award licenses in the 2570 MHz-2620 MHz band.
The mobile operators that will take part in the auction are Mobile TeleSystems (MTS), VimpelCom (Beeline), MegaFon, Tele2 Russia, Your Mobile Technologies, R-TeleCom, Yekaterinburg-2000 and Vaynakh Telecom.
The operators which currently offer commercial 4G LTE services in the Russian market are MTS, Beeline, MegaFon, Tele2 Russia, Tattelecom and Vaynakh Telecom.
