Ofcom confirms new spectrum auction in early-2016

News Wireless United Kingdom 26 OKT 2015
Ofcom confirms new spectrum auction in early-2016
UK regulator Ofcom has confirmed plans for an auction in early-2016 to release spectrum which has been made available by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) as part of a wider Government initiative to free up public sector spectrum for civil uses. A total of 190 MHz of high-capacity spectrum is being made available in two bands - 2.3 GHz and 3.4 GHz - which is equivalent to around three-quarters of the spectrum released by Ofcom for the 4G auction in 2013. 

These airwaves are suitable for high-speed mobile broadband services. Ofcom has set reserve prices totalling GBP 70 million for the spectrum and there will be no limit on the amounts bidders can buy. It plans to auction the spectrum in lots of 10 MHz for the 2.3 GHz band and 5 MHz for the 3.4 GHz band. It has set reserve prices of GBP 1 million per 1 MHz in the 2.3 GHz band and GBP 200,000 per 1 MHz in the 3.4 GHz band; that is GBP 10 million per 10 MHz lot in the 2.3 GHz band and GBP 1 million per 5 MHz lot in the 3.4 GHz band.

Categories:

Mobile

Countries:

United Kingdom

Tags:

Government telecommunications licensing, Data services, Services, Market, Internet Access, Wholesale, Client

Related Articles

DENMARK 17 OKT 2016

Sky & Space nano-satellite assembly starts ahead of schedule

Sky and Space Global said its partner GomSpace has commenced physical assembly its three initial nano-satellites ahead of schedule. The "Three Diamonds" are being put together in the GomSpace clean rooms at Aalborg in Denmark, after Sky & Space Global received approval from the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) to use its UHF frequency. It said the approval represents technical validation of the company's narrowband communications platform offering.

UNITED KINGDOM 11 JUL 2016

UK mobile networks to challenge spectrum auction changes

UK mobile network operators are set to mount legal changes to any Ofcom spectrum auction changes, reports The Sunday Telegraph. After its proposed merger with O2 UK was blocked, 3 UK CEO Dave Dyson wants Ofcom to impose strict limits on how much spectrum its larger rivals can hold. Vodafone UK Jeroen Hoencamp told the paper that it would oppose any changes to the rules in a forthcoming spectrum auction. EE would also take legal action against to stop Ofcom making changes to the spectrum holdings of UK mobil

UNITED KINGDOM 7 DEC 2015

Airwave drops injunction on new mobile network

Airwave, operator of the national police radio network, has dropped High Court action to block work on a replacement network, reports The Telegraph. Airwave said it would no longer block government plans to get a new mobile broadband network operational in 2017. However, it still plans to seek damages after it was barred from bidding for the new contract earlier in 2015. A company spokesperson said that it would not pursue a continuation of a suspension as it did not want to delay the procurement process. T

UNITED KINGDOM 22 OKT 2015

TalkTalk CEO criticises Openreach service charter

UK operator TalkTalk's CEO, Dido Harding, has criticised the Openreach Charter in which BT's infrastructure subsidiary sets out its vision for the future. The charter includes several targets, including going beyond the UK's 95 percent target for fibre broadband, improved service standards with faster installation times and repairs, and bringing G.fast technology to 10 million premises by the end of 2020. Harding writes that she is disappointed in the service charter for its lack of ambition. Instead of foc

UNITED KINGDOM 20 OKT 2015

Ofcom appoints director of corporate services

UK regulator Ofcom has announced the appointment of Alison Crosland as its new corporate services group director, effective January 2016. In her new role Crosland will lead Ofcom's finance, HR, secretariat and ICT teams, reporting to chief executive Sharon White. Crosland joins Ofcom from law firm Berwin Leighton Paisner, where she is COO of  the real estate law practice. She was previously operations director at LGBT Finance, COO of Asperity Employee Benefits, and spent 20 years at consultancy Control Risk

UNITED KINGDOM 19 OKT 2015

Vodafone UK publishes submission to Ofcom review

Vodafone UK has published its submission to regulator Ofcom's Digital Communications Review. The operator argues that incremental tweaks to regulation will not address issues undermining the ability of the UK to compete with the rest of the world. It urges Ofcom to take bold structural steps to create a sustainable long-term market. These include the structural separation of BT Openreach, the establishment of a framework for multi-operator investment through improved access to BT ducts and poles, making it

UNITED KINGDOM 15 OKT 2015

Ofcom wants to hear about contract cancelling experiences

UK regulator Ofcom is inviting consumers who have recently tried to or succeeded in terminating their phone, broadband or pay TV contract to contact them and describe their experience. Ofcom receives a significant number of complaints about the difficulties experienced by consumers trying to exit their contracts. It launched a monitoring and enforcement programme in June to examine the cancellation and termination arrangements of different providers.

UNITED KINGDOM 15 OKT 2015

Ofcom wants non-domestic channels to offer signing

UK regulator Ofcom is consulting on proposals to bring signing arrangements for channels licensed by Ofcom for transmission to other Member States of the EU (referred to as non-domestic channels) into line with the arrangements applying to domestic channels transmitting within the UK. The proposals will require non-domestic channels serving European Economic Area (EEA) countries to provide access services (including subtitling, signing and audio description) from 01 January 2017. So far, Ofcom has allowed b

UNITED KINGDOM 14 OKT 2015

Vodafone accuses BT of more overcharging

As part of its submission to Ofcom's Digital Communications Review, Vodafone UK commissioned Frontier Economics to update its analysis of data from BT's regulatory financial statements (RFS) since the implementation of the 2005 Ofcom strategic review. The aim was to assess the effectiveness of the regulatory framework in balancing the consumer benefits of lower prices with the need to provide incentives to invest in networks and operate these networks efficiently. The analysis shows that over the period Apr

UNITED KINGDOM 14 OKT 2015

Ofcom to bring VoD regulation in-house from start-2016

Ofcom has announced moves to bring the regulation of video-on-demand (VoD) programme services in-house, to sit alongside its regulation of broadcast content. The move follows a review by Ofcom into the regulation of broadcast and on-demand content. In 2020, Ofcom designated the Authority for Television On Demand (ATVOD) as a co-regulator to take the lead in regulating editorial content for video-on-demand services. However, it has now decided that acting as sole regulator for video-on-demand programmes is a

UNITED KINGDOM 11 OKT 2015

TalkTalk demands break up of BT

TalkTalk Group CEO Dido Harding has called on Ofcom to break up BT and separate Openreach for the good of the industry. Writing in The Telegraph, Harding argues that Ofcom's current telecoms review was a golden opportunity for the sector to take a hard, critical view of whether the telecoms market is working for customers and fit for the future. She added that the UK needed a first-rate network, built to serve and adopt to the constantly changing needs of a connected society. TalkTalk wants to see a regulat

UNITED KINGDOM 9 OKT 2015

BT defends Openreach, attacks Sky's pay-TV dominance

BT has made its final submission to Ofcom's Digital Communications Review. BT argues that it is vital for the digital future of the UK that Openreach remains part of the wider BT Group as this will enable it to continue to benefit from BT's capital as well as the around GBP 500 million a year BT spends on R&D. BT wants Openreach to continue providing regulated services to all companies on an equal basis as this model has served the UK very well over the past decade. BT insists that rivals have failed to mak

UNITED KINGDOM 8 OKT 2015

Sky makes final submission to Ofcom

Sky's chief strategy officer Mai Fyfield confirmed that it will make its final submission to Ofcom on 08 October as part of the Strategic Review of the UK's digital communications market. She said that the outcome of the review was extremely important for everyone in the UK, adding that it was a once in a decade opportunity to make sure that the UK benefits from a network that can meet ever growing demands for better and faster broadband. Sky believes that the UK needs to focus on investing to make Gigabit

UNITED KINGDOM 8 OKT 2015

CLA calls for Ofcom not to separate Openreach, BT

The UK's Country Land and Business Association (CLA) has called on Ofcom not to separate Openreach from BT. The CLA believes that separating the national broadband network from BT at this stage of the broadband roll-out would divert attention and resources away from programmes to provide rural homes and businesses with broadband. CLA President Henry Robinson said that despite being frustrated with Openreach's performance to date, the group wanted BT to be focused on delivering more broadband connections qui

UNITED KINGDOM 8 OKT 2015

Ofcom chief warns of higher prices from 3 UK/O2 deal

Ofcom CEO Sharon White warned that the merger of mobile operators 3 UK and O2 UK could be blocked by regulators because it could lead to higher prices for customers, reports The Telegraph. Speaking at the London School of Economics, White warned that the deal was unlikely to have any positive impact on network investment. The merger will create the UK's largest mobile network, accounting for over 40 percent of all mobile connection. It will also the number of network operators from four to three. White said

Just In

19 DEC 16:42

SLT-Mobitel launches 5G network in Sri Lanka

19 DEC 16:19

Dialog Axiata launches 5G network, connects 1.5 million subscribers

19 DEC 15:56

UK govt to ban AI-enabled nudification apps to protect women, girls

19 DEC 15:42

3 UK launches last-minute Christmas sale

Commentary

13:56

Video market set for slower growth ahead

11:38

Netflix buys Warner Bros to deepen content catalogue

11:11

KPN's mixed performance in Q3 raises questions for strategy day

15:26

Stock markets breaking records but what happened to Odido's IPO plans?

Background

01:04

The week in telecom: Wi-Fi bolt-ons take off to boost broadband growth, video market works on consolidation

01:39

The week in telecom: Netflix wins bidding for Warner Bros, Apple poaches new execs, Samsung debuts trifold

13:51

Proximus vs. Telenet: Proximus performs better in Q3 while Telenet uses up cash

14:16

Proximus Domestic still struggling with low margins

Complete profile

Before downloading the whitepaper, we would like to ask you to complete your profile with company and position. After confirming you will receive the white paper.