Each company won two 5 MHz frequency licenses, the Consumer Protection and Technical Supervision Agency (TTJA), which organized the tenders, said Monday.

Elisa's winning bid came to €2,111,596, Telia's to €2,011,487 and Tele2's to two million euros exactly.

The reserve price of one license was a million euros, and the auction started on November 8, lasting for three rounds.

The TTJA will issue the licenses after confirming the results of the competitive process and receiving the license fee and state fee.

The owner of a frequency license must make the communication service available to at least 50 percent coverage in each Estonian county within two years of issuing, while within four years the coverage must be 95 percent per county, with the exception of those counties nearest to the Russian border, namely Ida-Viru, Jõgeva, Tartu, Põlva and Võru counties, where restrictions on the broadcasting of TV channels based in the Russian Federation prevent such guarantees, though network construction can still go ahead and 5G can also be provided via other frequency bands in those counties.

Telia, Tele2 and Elisa were also winning bidders in the multi-million-euro 5G frequency auctions which took place over the summer. Lithuanian firm Bite also entered the tender process but did not make a winning bid.

5G has started to emerge over the last four years or so, to replace 4G, which has been in existence for over a decade. 3G entered in service over 20 years ago; 2G, in the 1990s.

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