Ofcom reveals date for UK 5G spectrum auction
The auction is expected to take several weeks with two smaller players competing alongside all four MNOs
Operators
March 14, 2018
Airspan Spectrum Holdings and Connexin will join the four major UK operators in the auctions room
Ofcom has announced that six companies have been approved to take part in the upcoming spectrum auction for both 2.3GHz and 3.4GHz bands.
LTE small cells vendor Airspan Spectrum Holdings and mobile internet provider Connexin have been added to the list of companies in the auction room alongside EE, Vodafone, Telfonica and Hutchison 3G UK.
A final list of participants is expected before the end of the week with Ofcom pressing ahead to complete the auction as soon as possible after the legal challenge against the cap from Three at the end of last year.
The auction is expected to take place in late March with the 150Mhz of 3.4Ghz spectrum available central to the roll out of 5G according to Ofcom.
Ofcom spectrum group director Philip Marnick said: “We’re pressing ahead with the auction to make these airwaves available as quickly as possible.
“This will benefit today’s mobile users by providing more capacity for mobile broadband use. It will also pave the way for 5G, allowing operators to launch the next generation of mobile technology.”