The 5G 28GHz frequency allocation auction to find a fourth mobile carrier recorded the highest bid of 141.4 billion won on the third day. This is 67.2 billion won higher than the lowest competitive price of 74.2 billion won and 61.7 billion won higher than the 79.7 billion won on the second day.

The Ministry of Science and ICT announced that the third day of the 28 GHz band frequency auction began at 09:00 on January 29 and ended at 17:40, and that the first stage multi-round ascending bidding was conducted up to round 25.

As a result of the third day of the auction, the highest bid was 141.4 billion won, and two companies participated in the auction that day, including Stage Five Consortium ‘Stage X’ and Future Mobile Consortium ‘My Mobile’. Sejong Telecom declared its withdrawal on the first day of the auction.

Meanwhile, some industry experts have expressed concern that the financial capacity of the applicant company challenging the 4th mobile carrier is insufficient to commercialize based on the 5G 28GHz frequency band. The 74.2 billion won is a price that is one-third lower than the lowest competitive price of 207.2 billion won when it was awarded to the three mobile carriers in the past, but it is still a burdensome price for the three small and medium-sized companies. They added that supplementary measures such as a fourth mobile carrier qualification reevaluation and additional frequency allocation conditions should be prepared.

Meanwhile, an official from an applicant company that expressed its intention to challenge the 4th mobile carrier showed its firm will to win the business rights, saying, “Initial investment by the government is inevitable.”

The 4th day auction is scheduled to resume on Tuesday, January 30th at 09:00 with the 26th round of the 1st stage multi-round ascending bidding.