Poland’s telecoms regulator UKE delayed the country’s first auction of 5G frequencies last week, citing the government measures to contain the coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic.

The auction, announced by the UKE in early March, was scheduled to go ahead on April 23, covering four frequency reservations in the 3480-3800 MHz band, UKE said.

The regulator did not say when the auction would happen. Poland has been in lockdown since early March, with some of the restrictions having been lifted this week but with no firm dates as to further easing. The Polish government said earlier this month that the epidemic might peak in May or even June.

Once a new deadline for bidding is announced, Polish telecom operators are expected to race for 80 MHz blocks in each of the four frequency reservations. The blocks will be valid until the end of June 2035.

The starting price of each block is PLN450mn (€104.2mn). Warsaw expects the auction would add PLN1.9bn to the state coffers.

The auction winners will be obliged to launch a minimum of 700 base stations using the allocated frequencies by the end of 2025, resulting in at least 2,800 5G stations across Poland by that time.

Earlier this year, Warsaw-listed Polish media and communications company Cyfrowy Polsat said that it would build a commercial 5G mobile data network in seven big Polish cities throughout the first quarter. However, unlike competitors Orange, T-Mobile, and Play, the company is yet to confirm it will take part in the bidding.