KPN’s German unit, E-Plus, says it is open to striking network access deals with rivals after becoming the only one of the country’s four main operators not to acquire high-value 800MHz spectrum in last week’s auctions. According to a Bloomberg report, the local unit of the Dutch telecoms giant said it will approach competitors about “white spots,” or areas where it has no coverage, and will seek network use from rivals at the right price. E-Plus’s network currently covers around 90 percent of the country. “We are open to cooperation, [and] if one of them is open, clearly we’ll talk to them,” said Thorsten Dirks, head of E-Plus Germany. “For the last 10 percent, we will seek network cooperation for the right price. We are absolutely dedicated to Germany. It’s our most important market outside the Netherlands.” 

Germany’s latest spectrum auctions closed last week netting the government around EUR4.38 billion (US$5.42 billion) in total. Spectrum in the ‘digital dividend’ 800MHz band – deemed most suitable for deploying LTE – was the most sought after airwaves on offer. The local arms of O2 and Vodafone each spent EUR1.2 billion on 800MHz spectrum while Deutsche Telekom spent EUR1.15 billion. E-Plus paid EUR283.6 million for eight blocks of spectrum in other frequencies. At least one of its rivals has said it is open to talking to E-Plus. “If they approach us, we will absolutely talk to them,” Niek Jan van Damme, a board member responsible for Deutsche Telekom’s German operations, said in an interview.