Euro LTE Spectrum Bargain

11:20 AM -- Four Finnish operators got some Long Term Evolution (LTE) and WiMax spectrum for just €3.8 million (US$5.6 million). (See Finland Awards 4G Spectrum.)

Finland completed its auction of 2.6 GHz spectrum yesterday, which lasted for five days and went 27 rounds. All three main operators and a new entrant acquired licenses for proto-4G mobile broadband services.

For the LTE spectrum (that is, Frequency Division Duplex), Elisa Corp. bid €834,700 ($1.2 million) for 50 MHz; TeliaSonera AB (Nasdaq: TLSN) bid €819,200 ($1.2 million) for 50 MHz; and DNA Oy bid €675,700 ($1 million) for 40 MHz.

For the WiMax spectrum (that is, Time Division Duplex), newcomer Pirkanmaan Verkko Oy bid €1,468,200 ($2.2 million) for 50 MHz.

So now Finland, Norway, and Sweden have auctioned 2.6 GHz spectrum. Norway's auction totaled 229 million Norwegian Kronor ($41 million) in 2007 while Sweden got 2 billion Swedish Kronor ($304 million) in 2008. LTE deployment plans are well underway in Norway and Sweden. (See Craig Goes to Norway, Sweden Awards 4G Spectrum, Swedish 4G, Telenor to Test Huawei LTE, and TeliaSonera: We'll Do 4G in 2010.)

Meanwhile, the rest of Europe still waits for more spectrum. (See Germany's Monster 4G Auction, Europe Faces 4G Spectrum Delays, French 4G Spectrum Update, and Europe Waits for 4G Spectrum.)

— Michelle Donegan, European Editor, Unstrung