All four leading mobile operators in the UK - EE, Vodafone, O2 and Three - spent almost £1.4bn in total to secure wireless spectrum in the recent Ofcom’s 5G auction.
Vodafone secured the largest chunk, 50MHz of 3.4GHz spectrum for £378.2m. BT (EE) and Telefónica (O2 Uk) each secured 40MHz of 3.4GHz spectrum for £302.6m and £317.7m respectively. Hutchison 3G won 20MHz of 3.4GHz spectrum at a cost of £151.3m.
Ofcom will now move to the ‘assignment’ stage, which is the last bidding stage of the auction. This is a short process, which allows companies who have won spectrum in the principal stage to bid to determine where in the frequency bands their new spectrum will be locatedOfcom also announced winners of the 2.3 GHz spectrum which is usable by current mobile phones and will help improve 4G capacity for today’s mobile users.
Philip Marnick, Spectrum Group Director, Ofcom
Releasing these airwaves will make it quicker and easier to get online on the move. It will also allow companies to prepare for 5G mobile, paving the way for a range of smart, connected devices.
Marc Allera, CEO of BT's Consumer Division
With this outcome, we’ll continue to roll out the fastest 4G service to consumers and businesses across the UK, and now look ahead to the potential new services that 5G will offer, keeping our nation at the forefront of digital communications.
