Israel is preparing for another tender to allocate more fifth generation (5G) mobile frequencies as soon as late 2021, aiming to boost the economy from new technologies while giving mobile operators a new revenue stream after years of steep declines, reported Reuters.
Israel allocated three frequencies — 700 MHz, 2.6 GHz and 3.5 GHz — following an auction in 2019, and the Communications Ministry plans to offer ultra-fast broadband frequencies above 24 GHz late in 2021 or early 2022, Tal Elimelech, who heads the ministry’s 5G project, told Reuters.
As in its prior tender, heavy incentives such as government grants will be provided to cash-strapped mobile companies to participate and the amounts raised are expected to be a fraction of what has been seen in Europe — hundreds of millions of euros.
More important to the country’s telecom regulator is an investment in the 5G infrastructure and vast applications that will help the public health, agriculture, education and other sectors.
“This is the main profit .. It’s not just one-time income from selling the spectrum,” Elimelech said, in the wake of a conference by the ministry aimed at creating a 5G ecosystem between telecoms and the high-tech industry.
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