📺 Serbia Launches Auction for DTT Licenses
Serbia’s Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communications and Postal Services (RATEL) has launched a spectrum auction for Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) licenses in the 470–694 MHz UHF band (Bands IV and V).
The regulator is offering up to three individual 10-year frequency licenses, with the option for subsequent renewal. The assigned spectrum will be utilized to establish and expand the national MUX1, MUX2, and MUX5 digital multiplexes nationwide.
Applications to participate in the auction must be submitted by August 31, 2026, with prospective bidders required to purchase the tender documentation by July 31. The licenses will be awarded via a highest-bid mechanism. The reserve price for MUX1 has been set at 1 million Serbian dinars (RSD), while the starting threshold for both MUX2 and MUX5 stands at 5 million RSD each. Successful bidders will be permitted to settle the license fee in two installments: a 20% down payment due within 15 days of the results announcement, with the remaining 80% payable by June 30, 2027.
Bidders are subject to stringent technical and operational criteria. Applicants must demonstrate a minimum of five years of experience in constructing and operating electronic communications networks for digital TV broadcasting. Entities lacking active operator status within Serbia are required to submit a preliminary agreement with a local DTT network operator. Currently, Serbia’s primary terrestrial broadcasting infrastructure is managed by the state-owned enterprise Emisiona Tehnika i Veze (ETV), whose network of over 230 transmission sites provides coverage to 98.5% of the population.
The tender follows public consultations conducted by the regulator earlier this year regarding the framework for the 470–694 MHz spectrum band. Serbia completed its full migration to the DVB-T2 digital standard back in 2015. Under the existing architecture, MUX1 is reserved for public service broadcasting and national commercial channels, MUX2 accommodates regional and local services, and additional capacity is leveraged for pay-terrestrial TV platforms.
This frequency allocation forms part of a broader European strategy to preserve the 470–694 MHz band for terrestrial broadcasting following the reallocation of the 700 MHz band to mobile operators.
Source: Broadband TV News
