LONDON--Ofcom, the independent regulator and competition
authority for the U.K. communications industries, Thursday
announced the bidders in the forthcoming 4G mobile spectrum
auction, adding that the bidding will start in January 2013.
MAIN FACTS:
-The following organizations have qualified to bid in the
auction: Everything Everywhere Limited U.K.; HKT U.K. Company
Ltd--a subsidiary of PCCW Ltd: Hutchison 3G U.K. Ltd: MLL Telecom
Ltd: Niche Spectrum Ventures Ltd--a subsidiary of BT Group PLC
(BT.A): Telefonica U.K. Ltd and Vodafone Ltd.
-Bidders will be competing to acquire new capacity to roll out
superfast 4G mobile broadband services to cities, towns and
villages across the U.K.
-Bidders will be competing for spectrum in two separate bands -
800 MHz and 2.6 GHz. The lower frequency 800 MHz band is part of
the 'digital dividend' freed up when analogue terrestrial TV was
switched off, which is ideal for widespread mobile coverage.
-The higher frequency 2.6 GHz band is ideal for delivering the
capacity needed to deliver faster speeds. These two bands add up to
250 MHz of additional mobile spectrum, compared to 333 MHz in use
Thursday. Both bands are being packaged into smaller lots for the
auction.
-Write to Razak Musah Baba at razak.baba@dowjones.com
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