Dutch government raises 1.23 billion euros at first 5G auction

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The Dutch government said on Tuesday it had raised 1.23 billion euros (1.11 billion pounds) from its first auction for bandwidth for 5G telecommunications.

The three companies with mobile networks in the Netherlands, KPN , VodafoneZiggo and T-Mobile, all received bandwidth at the auction, the country's junior economic affairs minister Mona Keijzer said at a news conference in The Hague.

In separate statements, KPN, the former national telecoms operator in the Netherlands, said it had paid 416 million euros in the auction, VodafoneZiggo said it had paid almost 416 million euros and smaller rival T-Mobile said it had paid 400 million euros.

The rollout of 5G in the Netherlands has proceeded more slowly than in some neighbouring European countries. The licences awarded on Tuesday were in the 700, 1400 and 2100MHz ranges, at the lower end of the frequencies associated with 5G.

The Dutch government plans a further auction in 2022 after it relocates ground satellite systems in the 5G range currently used by the country's intelligence agencies.

(Reporting by Toby Sterling; Editing by Mark Potter and Jane Merriman)