The New Zealand government has announced the reserve price for short-term management rights in the 3.5GHz spectrum band for 5G.
In a press release, Radio Spectrum Management, the unit of the Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment responsible for allocating and licensing spectrum, said the reserve price will be set at NZD250,000 (USD165,888) per 10MHz lot, with a total of 16 lots available covering the frequency range from 3.59GHz to 3.75GHz.
Registered participants will be required to bid for a minimum of two lots and pay a deposit of NZD500,000. An initial acquisition limit has been set at four lots (40MHz) to any one registered bidder, although this may be increased in the supplementary phase of the auction if lots go unsold in the initial clock phase. Winning bidders must use the 3.5GHz rights to implement international (3GPP) 5G standards and synchronise with other users of the early access management rights.
They will also be required to return existing management rights they hold elsewhere in the 3.5GHz band in return for a discount on the purchase price of the new rights, which will be based on the price per MHz rate of the winning bid. The spectrum rights will be allocated for a term beginning in mid-2020 until 31 October 2022. The long-term rights will start in November 2022 following another auction.
