(Telecompaper) Vodafone raised the stakes considerably for the 700 MHz band in the latest day of bidding in the German spectrum auction. On 18 June, It placed the top bids for all six blocks available, worth in total EUR 968 million or more than twice as much as the total price of less than EUR 450 million at the start of bidding on 17 June. Its offers are also well ahead of the reserve price of EUR 75 million for each lot of 2x5 MHz. Bids for the 900 MHz band have also reached nearly three times the reserve price of EUR 75 million per block, with Telefonica making the highest offer of EUR 201.7 million. The 1,800 MHz band has shown the strongest increase compared to the reserve price of EUR 37.5 million, reaching a top bid of EUR 249.1 million from Vodafone for a single block. The total of all highest bids after 172 rounds, including also the spectrum in the 1,800 MHz and 1,500 MHz bands, is now EUR 4.954 billion, according to the Bundesnetzagentur.