UK 2.6 GHz auction pushed back again, to 2010
The UK, once set to be the first European country to auction 2.6 GHz spectrum for ‘4G’ services, is delaying its spectrum sale yet again. In November, regulator Ofcom indicated it hoped to award licenses by mid-2009, and in April it said it promised to hold the auction “as soon as possible”. Now it has “withdrawn” that statement and, in the wake of the new Digital Britain report recommendations, will bundle the 2.6 GHz and digital dividend spectrum sales into one super-auction next year. The delay is a further blow for operators that had hoped to steal an early march in mobile broadband, especially those aiming to challenge the cellular incumbents, possibly with a WiMAX network. While a few countries, notably Sweden, have sold 2.6 GHz licenses, most auctions will take place in 2010, as operators create strategies that also take account of the sale of analog TV spectrum around 800 MHz; possible broadband stimulus initiatives in some markets; and the ruling, by many regulators, that 3G services can be expanded using current GSM frequencies around 900 MHz.
