The French government said on Tuesday it had launched a procedure for assigning 5G frequency licenses after it approved specifications proposed by the communications regulator and the financial conditions for the licenses.

Axar.az reports citing Reuters that the government said in a statement it had fixed the price of a bloc of 50 MHz at 350 million euros ($386 million), and the price of an additional bloc of 10 MHz at 70 million euros.

Junior Economy Minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher said in the statement that the government and French telecoms regulator Arcep had designed a mechanism that makes it possible to sell 50 MHz basic blocs at a fixed price to telecom operators.

In return, operators have strong obligations to deploy their network across the French territory, she said.

“These 5G coverage commitments are much more ambitious than in other European countries and will in future constitute a strong element of our country’s competitiveness,” she said.

The minister said last month that the 5G spectrum would be sold at a floor price of 2.17 billion euros.