The German Federal Network Agency will commence the auction of the frequencies in the 700 MHz range for fast mobile internet access in particular in rural regions on May 27, 2015.
Three companies were approved for participation in the auction: Telefónica Germany, Telekom Deutschland and Vodafone.
Germany is the first European country to use the 700 MHz frequencies for mobile broadband services. The capacities are vacated as part of the transition of digital terrestrial television from DVB-T to the more efficient standard DVB-T2.
The DVB-T2 transition will commence in spring 2016. From April 2017, the 700 MHz frequencies will gradually be taken into usage by the mobile network operators.