Britain’s four principal mobile operators have bid a combined £1.35 billion in Ofcom’s 5G auction.
Vodafone paid £378,240,000 for 50MHz of 3.4GHz spectrum; Telefónica has won all 40 MHz of 2.3GHz spectrum available, at a cost of £205,896,000; and 40MHz of 3.4GHz spectrum at a cost of £317,720,000; BT-owned EE has won 40MHz of 3.4GHz spectrum at a cost of £302,592,000 and Hutchison 3G has won 20MHz of 3.4GHz spectrum at a cost of £151,296,000.
Telefónica’s 2.3GHz spectrum will be used by subsidiary O2 to improve 4G services.
A total of 34 ‘lots’ of spectrum were put up for auction with all £1,355,744,000 going to the treasury.
Philip Marnick, Spectrum Group Director at Ofcom commented: “This is good news for everyone who uses their mobile phone to access the internet. As a nation we’re using ever more mobile data on smartphones and mobile devices. 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.”
5G services will enable connected vehicles and robotics, industrial automated systems, and virtual and augmented reality.
Ofcom will now move to the ‘assignment’ stage, which is the last bidding stage of the auction. The process allows companies who have won spectrum in the principal stage to bid to determine where in the frequency bands their new spectrum will be located.
