On 5 December 2012 the Irish telecom regulator, ComReg, announced the conclusion of the Irish 800, 900 and 1800 MHz auction. The award process, which was initiated in 2009, allocated 280 MHz of spectrum suitable for new mobile technologies, including LTE.
 
In the auction, the four Irish incumbent operators won spectrum. Hutchison 3G Ireland Ltd. won 900 and 1800 MHz spectrum for a price of €51 m while Meteor Mobile Communications Ltd., Telefonica Ireland Ltd. and Vodafone Ireland Ltd. won 800, 900 and 1800 MHz spectrum for prices of €145 m, € 125 m and €161 m respectively. Including spectrum usage fees the auction raised a total of €855 m.
 
The auction format used for the allocation of licenses was a complex variation of the Combinatorial Clock Auction (CCA) format including two time slices, party-specific lots and new activity rules.
 
Copenhagen Economics advised Hutchison 3G Ireland Ltd. throughout the auction process.
 
For more information, please contact Senior Economist Frederik Harhoff