Hong Kong raises $288M in 5G spectrum saleHong Kong raises $288M in 5G spectrum sale

The Hong Kong government has raised 2.24 billion HK dollars (US$288 million) in its latest spectrum auction.

The city's biggest mobile player, China Mobile, was the most aggressive bidder, acquiring the maximum of 50MHz in contiguous 2.3GHz spectrum for HK$1.07 billion ($137 million).

The next most active was Hutchison Telecom, buying 10MHz – the maximum allowed in the 850MHz band - and 20MHz in the 2.3GHz band for HK$617 million ($79 million).

HKT obtained 20MHz of 2.3GHz for HK$400 million ($51 million) while SmarTone won 10MHz in the lower band for HK$151.5 million ($19.5 million).

A total of 110 MHz in 11 slices of refarmed mobile spectrum was sold during the seven-day auction. The spectrum can be deployed in 4G, 5G or future 6G services over the 15-year license period.

The operators have the option of either paying the full sum in advance or paying an annual spectrum utilization fee (SUF).

Hutchison Telecom said it expected to pay an SUF of HK$617 million ($79 million), plus HK$20 million ($2.6 million) in annual licensing fees, along with a HK$75 million ($9.6 million) performance bond.

Another auction next week

It is Hong Kong's first spectrum sale since the government amended its tax rules at the start of the year to allow operators to fully deduct the spectrum fees.

Earlier this year, it forsook the auction process and handed out a swathe of 26GHz and 27GHz frequencies by administrative assignment, allocating 3600MHz directly to the four operators in two separate batches.

It is set to hold a further auction of a 400MHz block of 6GHz-7GHz spectrum starting next week.

Under the current three-year spectrum release plan, the Office of the Communications Authority (Ofca) expects to sell a tranche of 2.6GHz frequencies in 2025. A further 4,000MHz of 39-43THz spectrum for mobile or fixed wireless access will go on the sale block in late 2025 or 2026.