The government of Mozambique is on track to raise approximately US$83.4-million from the sale of new spectrum of frequencies to telecom operators according to the regulator in charge of the process, the National Institute of Communications of Mozambique (INACOM).

During the auction, three spectrum bands were offered - 800 MHz, 1800 MHz and 2.6 GHz.

Five 2x5 MHz batches were available in the 800 MHz range, six 2x5 MHz batches were available in the 1800 MHz range, and nine 2x5 MHz batches were available in the 2.6 GHz range.

INACOM indicated that only three operators participated in the auction - Vodacom Mocambique, Movitel and Mcel.

They all submitted bids only for three of the five 2x5MHz batches of the 800 MHz band. There were no bids for 1800MHz and 2.6GHz spectrum bands.

According to the terms of the auction, payment will be in phases starting with the first installment which is 34% of the bid sum. Local media reported this payment has already been made.

The second and the final payment of 33% for each spectrum auctioned is expected in 2019 and 2020 respectively.

"The auction [was] for the attribution of rights of use of frequencies took place in three rounds of 45 minutes each, with a thirty minute interval between them. It was a simultaneous auction, and open. The batches in the bands of 1800MHz and 2.6GHz, were deserted, because there were no bids," the regulator said in a statement.

"In accordance with the rules laid down in the auction regulation, taking into account the economic value of the spectrum competition and the similarity of propagation characteristics in each frequency band, the payment of the average value of the price bid in the last round, was the sum of the three highest bid amounts in each round, divided by the number of competing operators in the auction."