Hungary's telecommunications authority NMHH confirmed this week that the Metropolitan Court ruled as lawful its decision for the exclusion of Digi Hungary from the 5G spectrum auction. The court found that NMHH made the decision based on a lawful and correct interpretation of the law. The operator may appeal the court's decision.

According to the court, NMHH correctly concluded that Digi Hungary didn't apply directly for the frequency auction because it perceived that there was a reason for its exclusion, namely a condition that prevents operators who violated competition law in the previous two years to qualify. The court agreed with NMHH that Digi wanted to mislead the authority with its parent company's application to join the auction and that this company's participation in the auction would've violated the auction process's purity.

In addition, the court ruled against Digi's parent company Digi Communications rejecting its argument. It found that the authority designed the auction dossier in accordance with EU rules and that all conditions for participation were proportionate, objective and non-discriminatory.

The court ruled as lawful the auction condition that only companies without any competition law infringements in the last two years may qualify for the auction. The court emphasized that Digi Communications would have a particularly restrictive effect on economic competition if the authority were to allow the participation of operators who have been shown not to be in accordance with the rules of fair competition and given the opportunity to acquire important public assets.

The company challenged NMHH's decision on a number of other points, including violations of EU law, but the court also rejected these arguments.