France’s 5G auction, which will in most probability exclude bids from China’s Huawei Technologies, will set the groundwork for next generation industries, including IoT.

On Thursday, French news agency Le Figaro reported Junior Minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher as stating, France will commence the auction of 5G telecoms frequencies this autumn, with licenses expected to be given at the start of 2020.

France’s four main telecoms operators Orange, Bouygues Telecom, Altice Europe’s SFR and Iliad regularly compete in costly spectrum auctions, which provide raw material for wireless carriers to develop networks.

“The government will fix the political framework in spring. Arcep (the telecoms regulator) will then establish the specific requirements, which will be certified in autumn,” said Pannier-Runacher to Le Figaro. “The auction will then be launched with attributions at the start of 2020”.