China Mobile, 3 others to pay HK$1.88B in Hong Kong spectrum auction

Four mobile operators in Hong Kong will pay about HK$1.88 billion for frequencies acquired in a just-concluded auction, the territory's Office of the Communications Authority said Oct. 27.

The auction, which ran for 32 bidding rounds from Oct. 25 to Oct. 27, involved 19 blocks of spectrum in the 600 MHz, 700 MHz, 850 MHz, 2.5/2.6 GHz, and 4.9 GHz bands. The licenses covering the frequencies will be valid for 15 years.

China Mobile Hong Kong Co. Ltd. secured six frequency blocks for HK$649 million, while Hong Kong Telecommunications (HKT) Ltd. will pay HK$599 million for seven blocks. SmarTone Mobile Communications Ltd. acquired three blocks for HK$377 million, and Hutchison Telephone Co. Ltd., or 3 HK, is paying HK$252 million for three blocks.

The telcos must pay the spectrum utilization fees or submit a letter of payment guarantee for such fees by Nov. 24. They should also submit performance bonds to ensure their compliance with the network and service rollout requirements for using the frequencies.

SmarTone Mobile said it will use its newly acquired spectrum to improve and expand 5G network capacity.

The Office of the Communications Authority in 2019 raised HK$1 billion in an auction of 200 MHz of 5G spectrum. Following the auction, HKT, 3 HK and China Mobile Hong Kong launched their respective commercial 5G services in April 2020, with SmarTone Mobile following suit in late May the same year.