Estonia, Internet, Legislation, Technology, Telecomunications

The circuit court on Friday afternoon partially satisfied the preliminary legal protection application of Levikom Eesti with which it forbids the organization of a competition for granting frequency permits in the frequency range of 3,410 to 3,800 MHz for 30 days, that is until April 21. The court admitted Levikom's appeal into handling and obligated the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications and the Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority to respond to the appeal by Wednesday, at the latest, the company said.

According to Levikom CEO Peep Poldsamm, the essence of 5G is the provision of services such as the Internet of Things (IoT), industrial robots, self-driving cars and telemedicine, for which the most important aspects are the network's response speed and security of connection.

"The issuance of four or more permits is in accordance with the 5G standard and would not prevent any mobile operator from offering faster internet, even though this is not the main idea of the 5G technology. The objective of the 5G frequency competition should foremost be that 5G services become available in Estonia as quickly as possible," Poldsamm said in a press release. "Artificially limiting the competition with three frequency permits would essentially be a market lock and mean forcefully smothering the competition," he added.

According to Poldsamm, the court's decision came as a surprise also to Levikom. The company still on Thursday published a public warning that the competition had been launched on the wrong basis, only a day later the circuit court also reached the understanding that the competition cannot proceed uninterrupted.

He said that the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications should issue at least four permits and leave one channel for regional use for industrial consumers, medical institutions and regional operators. "In the interest of competition it should be wholly welcome that all those who desire could develop 5G services and contribute to the development of the Estonian economy. It is incomprehensible why the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications is mistakenly claiming that issuing three permits is the only possible solution," Poldsamm said.

In addition, according to Levikom, the statutory requirements for changing the radio frequency plan were violated. "Levikom has been using frequencies within the 3,410-3,800 MHz frequency range put on auction already since 2007 and wishes to continue using them for the provision of new 5G services also in the future," Poldsamm said. Since 2016 Levikom Eesti has invested some two million euros in the development of 5G and IoT technologies.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications said in January that the public competition will be open to all communications companies interested in it and the starting price will be 1.6 mln euros. The 5G frequencies will be in the area of 3.6 gigahertz and their price has been determined in accordance with the Electronic Communications Act and considering that radio frequencies are a limited state resource.

Minister of Entrepreneurship and IT Rene Tammist in January described the taking into use of new frequency bands as necessary for the implementation of new technologies such as self-driving vehicles and smart city solutions. "The challenges for Estonia's economic development are innovation and productivity -- solutions using 5G communication will open up new opportunities in both directions," Tammist said.

During the preparations of the competition, the practices of various countries, the regulation in the European Union and the results of public consultation were analyzed. All frequency permits will be issued at an auction.