Ofcom Finalise UK Wireless Broadband Auction for 2.3GHz and 3.4GHz

The UK telecoms regulator has today confirmed the final details for their “early” 2016 auction of 190MHz worth of high-capacity spectrum in the 2.3GHz (2350MHz to 2390MHz) and 3.4GHz (3410MHz to 3600MHz) bands, which could be used for mobile (4G) and or other fixed wireless broadband services.

Most of the spectrum, which will not come attached to any specific coverage obligation (higher frequencies aren’t ideal for coverage focused deployments as they don’t extend very far), was formerly used by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and is now being re-purposed for civil use.

A further 40MHz of spectrum in the 3.4GHz band (3480-3500MHz and 3580-3600MHz) is currently held by concurrent licensees: UK Broadband Ltd and UKB Networks Ltd. Ofcom states that either of the concurrent licensees may apply for a replacement licence, in which case they will include those frequencies in the assignment stage of the auction (i.e. this would enable all users of the 3.4GHz band to have contiguous spectrum holdings).

Ofcom states that they don’t plan to impose any spectrum caps on the auction because that could “prevent a bidder from buying large blocks of adjacent spectrum“, which is needed in order to support “very fast download speeds” and that’s a clear focus for this auction (improving capacity for mobile broadband services etc.).

At this point we should mention that the 2.3GHz band is already being used for 4G services in a number of countries outside Europe (e.g. China, India and Australia), which means that hardware support is easy to introduce. The 3.4GHz band is also being used for 4G in six countries including the UK (UK Broadband Ltd’s ISP ‘Relish’ in London), Canada and Spain.

Philip Marnick, Ofcom’s Spectrum Group Director, said:

“Spectrum is the essential resource which fuels the UK’s wireless economy. This auction is an important step in ensuring that the UK has the wireless capability to deliver and support new technology.

We’re responding to rapid change and innovation in the communications sector, which is placing greater demands on spectrum. Part of our plan to meet this demand is by making new spectrum available and allowing it to be used in a number of different ways.”

Otherwise Ofcom has also set a reserve price of £10m for a 10MHz (2.3GHz) lot (the total available spectrum for this band is 40MHz) and £1m for a 5MHz (3.4GHz) lot (the total available spectrum for this band is 150MHz). The reserve prices for all this apparently totals up to £70m.

The regulators final consultation will now remain open for responses until 27th November 2015, although we don’t expect much to change.