Ofcom Statement

We received 7 non-confidential and 3 confidential responses. Some stakeholders confirmed demand for the band for wireless cameras and argued in favour of its allocation to PMSE but others produced evidence of demand for mobile broadband services, and argued implicitly or explicitly in favour of a competitive award. Evidence of demand for mobile services has also come from the German spectrum auction in May 2010, in which the 2010 MHz band was acquired for 5.7m.There was little support for making the band available on a licence-exempt basis.

These factors suggest that the opportunity cost associated with reserving the band for PMSE would be greater than we had supposed. Consequently, in line with our general approach to spectrum management, we now consider that it possible that it would be more beneficial to release the spectrum through a competitive award. The details of this award will be the subject of a future consultation.