Vodafone acquires €350m of bandwidth in Spanish 5G auction

Telecommunications giant Vodafone has handed over €350.0m to the Spanish Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation to acquire bandwidth in a recent 5G auction.

Vodafone's Spanish arm will make a single payment in exchange for 2x10 MHz of spectrum in the nation's 700 MHz band and will also hand over a €15.5m licensing fee per year.

The spectrum acquired by the FTSE 100-listed firm will come with initial holding rights until 2041, with an automatic renewal with no additional fees for a further 20 years, subject to meeting licence obligations.

Vodafone will use the spectrum to expand its footprint and offer better coverage across Spain.

Chief executive Colman Deegan said: "The new 5G frequencies acquired today will enable Vodafone Spain to accelerate the deployment of our leading 5G network in the coming months, ensuring that consumers and businesses can take advantage of digital transformation opportunities to support economic recovery after the pandemic."

As of 1010 BST, Vodafone shares were up 1.67% at 117.02p.