ComCom Announces Third 5G Auction

The Communications Commission has announced the third auction for the implementation of 5G internet at the request of the company Silknet. As it is vitally important for the Commission to facilitate the implementation of new technologies, it took the request of operators into account and allowed them to participate in another auction.  in order to implement 5G technology and provide customers with high-quality services. The Commission held the first auction in 2023, with only Cellfie Mobile taking part. The second auction was held in 2024, where Magticom was the only participant. Both companies have already successfully implemented 5G internet. 

The third auction has been announced by the Communications Commission for 11 lots that include 700, 3400-3800 and 2600 MHz frequency bands. The 11 lots will include two combined abstract lots that will not differ from each other in terms of coverage obligations and price. The combined lots will consist of two different frequency bands (700 and 3400-3800 MHz). In addition, the license applicant for both combined lots will have the choice of acquiring the lot with or without the obligation to provide wholesale access to a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO). 

After the first auction held in 2023, the mandatory requirement for license seekers to provide access to MVNOs within the framework of the auction was removed. This is because on the one hand, based on the holistic study of the telecom sector, ComCom recognised the company Magticom as an operator with significant market power and imposed on it the obligation to provide MVNOs with access to its network, and on the other hand, the company Cellfie Mobile had already assumed this obligation within the framework of the 2023 auction. Therefore, ComCom did not consider it necessary to impose such an obligation on this occasion. However, both the combined and separate lots that include the obligation of allowing access to MVNOs come with a 20% discount on the initial fee for using the radio frequency resource. 

In addition to the combined lots, the auction will also include 9 separate lots. The price of each lot varies varies by frequency range and volume. The separate lot auctions will only be open to the winners of at least one of the combined lot auctions and companies that already have a license to use the radio frequency spectrum for the frequencies included in the combined lots. 

After obtaining the relevant licenses, the winning operators will be obliged to gradually cover densely populated settlements, tourist areas, ports, airports, railway stations and main highways in Georgia with 5G networks over the next 7 years. The operators must build the 5G networks in accordance with the technical norms of the European Union, which will ensure the quality and security of the networks.

The dates of the auction are as follows: 12:00 on 27 June 2025 for combined lots N1 and N2; and 12:00 on 30 June 2025 for separate lots N3 to N11.

The Communications Commission started actively working on implementing the 5G technology in 2020. The Commission determined the necessary parameters and conditions for the implementation of 5G in accordance with the decisions of the European Commission and the experiences of the European counterpart regulators, while the frequency resource fee was established together with experts from one of the ‘big four’ accounting firms, EY. 

5G is a new generation of wireless internet technology that will significantly increase mobile internet speed compared to the existing technologies, decrease interruptions and take key sectors such as communications, healthcare, education, business, agriculture and infrastructure to a new level, which will inturn strengthen the country’s economy. 

Details about the terms and obligations of the 5G auction can be accessed from today on the official website of the Communications Commission.