EE, 3G, Niche Spectrum Ventures, Telefónica, Vodafone Won The UK 4G Mobile Auction

Posted on Feb 20 2013 - 3:02pm by Editorial Staff
Ofcom

Ofcom

The future is here: Ofcom announces winners of the 4G mobile auction – so who win and who lose? Everything Everywhere, Hutchison 3G UK, Niche Spectrum Ventures (a subsidiary of BT Group plc), Telefónica UK and Vodafone have all won spectrum and raised £2.34 billion ($3.62 billion) to secure a total of 250 MHz of spectrum, the 4G auction concluded.

The bids breakdown as follows:

  • Everything Everywhere won two 5 MHz lots of 800 MHz and two 35 MHz lots of 2.6 GHz spectrum for a total of £588,876,000 ($909.5 million)
  • Hutchison 3G secured two 5 MHz lots of 800 MHz for £225,000,000 ($347.5 million)
  • BT’s Niche Spectrum Ventures won two 15 MHz of 2.6 GHz and one 20 MHz lot of 2.6 GHz (unpaired) spectrum for £186,476,000 ($288 million).
  • Telefonica (O2) won two 10 MHz lots of 800 MHz spectrum for paying £550,000,000 ($852 million)

Ed Richards, Ofcom Chief Executive, said:

This is a positive outcome for competition in the UK, which will lead to faster and more widespread mobile broadband and substantial benefits for consumers and businesses across the country. We are confident that the UK will be among the most competitive markets in the world for 4G services

4G coverage will extend far beyond that of existing 3G services, covering 98% of the UK population indoors – and even more when outdoors – which is good news for parts of the country currently underserved by mobile broadband.

We also want consumers to be well informed about 4G, so we will be conducting research at the end of this year to show who is deploying services, in which areas and at what speeds. This will help consumers and businesses to choose their most suitable provider.

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