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National Joint Auction Company No. 5 has announced that it will not organize an auction for the 3800-3900 MHz frequency because there are not enough qualified businesses to participate. Photo: TK.

No auction of frequency 3800-3900 MHz

National Joint Auction Company No. 5 has announced a list of enterprises that are not eligible to participate in the auction and will not organize an auction for the right to use radio frequencies for the C3 band (3800-3900 MHz).

Previously, on February 20, 2024, National Joint Stock Auction Company No. 5 issued a notice inviting participation in the auction of radio frequency usage rights for the C3 band (3800-3900 MHz) scheduled to be held at 2:00 p.m. on March 14, 2024.

However, based on the results of receiving registration dossiers to participate in the auction and the results of collecting the deposit, National Joint Stock Auction Company No. 5 announced the list of enterprises that were not eligible to participate in the auction and did not pay the deposit. Therefore, the auction of radio frequency usage rights for the C3 band (3800-3900 MHz) was not held due to the lack of the minimum number of enterprises eligible to participate in the auction as prescribed.

National Joint Stock Auction Company No. 5 will return the money for purchasing documents and deposit, no later than 2 working days from the scheduled date of the auction, to the enterprise that purchased documents and submitted valid registration documents to participate in the auction.

The starting price of the 3800 MHz to 3900 MHz spectrum block for 15 years of use is more than VND 1,956 billion. Enterprises must commit to deploying at least 3,000 5G broadcasting stations, and officially providing terrestrial mobile telecommunications services using the 3700-3800 MHz spectrum band or the 3800-3900 MHz spectrum band no later than 12 months from the date of being licensed to use the corresponding auctioned spectrum band.

At the time of officially providing terrestrial mobile telecommunications services using the 3700-3800 MHz band or the 3800-3900 MHz band, the enterprise must deploy at least 30% of the number of radio transmission stations committed to deploy within the first 2 years from the date of being licensed to use the corresponding auctioned frequency band.

Previously, on March 8, 2024, the B1 2500 - 2600 MHz frequency band auction was held, marking a new historical milestone for Vietnam when switching from allocation and selection to auction to obtain frequencies.

After 24 rounds of auction, Viettel was the winning bidder for the right to use the 2500MHz - 2600MHz frequency. Having won the B1 2500 - 2600 MHz frequency block, Viettel will no longer have the right to participate in the next auction. In the 2500 - 2600 MHz frequency auction, Vietnamobile did not participate and did not give an official reason.

What is different about 5G bands for carriers?

Experts say that the 5G network frequency bands in Vietnam for the three planned network operators are 2500-2600 MHz, 3700-3800 MHz and 3800 - 3900 MHz, all of which have the same number of compatible terminals because these bands are all popular bands for 5G networks in the world.

On the other hand, due to global competition and commercial factors, most 5G terminals are designed by suppliers to be compatible and support multiple frequency bands so that they can be commercialized in markets, especially popular frequency bands in addition to specific frequency bands.

Experts point out that 5G frequency bands are divided into 4 groups: Low bands (under 1GHz), Mid bands 1 (1GHz-2.6GHz), Mid bands 2 (3.5-7GHz) and High bands (24GHz – 48GHz). According to IMT 2020, high frequency bands will have large bandwidth, high speed, low latency and high capacity, however, high frequency bands will be limited by coverage.

Thus, each licensed frequency band has different advantages and disadvantages and it is difficult for any frequency band to maximize all the advantages and overcome all the disadvantages due to its characteristics and technological factors. Low frequency bands will have the advantage of wide coverage, but slower speed and high frequency bands have higher speed but narrower coverage.

Specifically, the 2500-2600 MHz band that Viettel won the auction for is called the "golden band" because it is a lower band than the 3700-3800 MHz band and the 3800 - 3900 MHz band, so it has wider coverage. When a network operator has this band, it will have the advantage of less investment than the network operators with the 3700-3800 MHz band and the 3800 - 3900 MHz band. In addition, this band can also be used for the 4G network. The starting price for the auction of this band is also higher than the other two 5G bands.

The 3700-3800 MHz band and the 3800-3900 MHz band will be auctioned next. Due to the lack of coverage, it will be necessary to invest in more base stations, which will increase infrastructure investment costs. However, this band has the advantage of higher access speed than the "golden band" 2500-2600 MHz.

In the future, if the Ministry of Information and Communications continues to auction the 700 MHz band, this band will have even higher coverage and bring investment advantages to the winning network operator, but will have slower speeds than the 3 5G bands that the Ministry of Information and Communications auctioned this time.

So, the auction to get which frequency band is the business of the network operators with their own calculations. But for customers, they do not care which frequency band or technology the network operator uses, but what is important is what services the network operator brings to them, what quality, what experience and utility it brings.

Therefore, after the 5G spectrum auction, network operators will enter a new race to bring service experiences, utilities to customers as well as new 5G business models. When investing in 5G networks, which network operator serves its customers well and brings in profits is the most crucial factor determining their success.