Mobile operator Three (3) UK has warned that one or more of its rivals, including O2 , Vodafone and Everything Everywhere ( Orange , T-Mobile ), will attempt to delay Ofcom's auction of superfast (100Mbps+) 4G / LTE friendly next generation Mobile Broadband spectrum (800MHz and 2.6GHz) because they are all "incentivised differently to defer [it] for as long as possible".

The concern stems from the fact that both O2 and Vodafone were allowed to repurpose their existing 900MHz and 1800MHz radio spectrum for use by 3G based Mobile Broadband services at the start of this year (here). The bands had previously only been available for use by older 2G data (GPRS, EDGE) and voice calls. The move followed EU guidance and a UK government directive.

Crucially Three (3) believes that this handed both operators an "unfair competitive advantage" because the 900MHz band in particular, being of a lower frequency, costs less and can travel further to deliver faster mobile internet access services into more homes (e.g. rural areas). O2 has already begun offering 3G services over 900MHz (here).


As expected O2 has already raised some concerns with Ofcom's auction and have even made the odd legal threat. Vodafone could follow. Meanwhile Everything Everywhere last year claimed to have dropped plans for a legal challenge (here), at least in relation to the low frequency 800MHz radio spectrum (currently used for old analogue TV services).

The government is likely to push forward with its auction but currently has no plans to toughen its protection of the process against competitive disputes. Ofcom is expected to publish a crucial statement on future competition and details of the combined auction, together with draft auction regulations, this autumn.

Ofcom hopes that its final auction regulations will be in place before the end of 2011. In other words if O2 or anybody else intends to challenge the move then late autumn is the time to expect it. The regulator's aim is for the first next gen Mobile Broadband services to surface between late 2013 and early 2014.

UPDATE 6th September 2011

The Guardian states that Ofcom has already delayed the publication of its draft auction regulations, which were originally due in "autumn" 2011. The newspaper claims that veiled threats of legal action by O2 and other carriers have caused Ofcom to delay the publication until November 2011.

The newspaper appears to have forgotten that November is still a part of "autumn" and thus, technically speaking, Ofcom has not delayed the publication. On the other hand they are quite correct to say that it's a couple of months behind the regulators internal schedule and could thus cause other dates to be pushed back.

In any case most industry commentators have expected the timetable to slip, which is why 2014 remains a more likely bet than late-2013 for the emergence of 4G services in the UK.