EE, O2, and Vodafone submitted bids for available lots to determine their share of the spectrum. Each operator secured 800 MHz in the 26 GHz band and 1 GHz in the 40 GHz band, paying £13 million each, bringing the total revenue raised to £39 million.

A total of 5.4 GHz of spectrum was made available to enable faster, more reliable mobile services in high-demand locations such as football stadiums, major concert venues, and transport hubs, and can be deployed in 68 towns and cities.

The process will now move to the Assignment Stage, where operators will bid for their preferred frequency positions within the bands they have won. Ofcom will publish the final results, including specific frequency allocations and total payments, once all stages are complete.

David Willis, Ofcom’s Group Director for Spectrum, said: “Today’s results are an important milestone on the path to better, faster 5G. The large amount of spectrum we’ve released will help support innovation, open doors to new applications and growth, and can bring noticeable improvements to mobile services in busier places up and down the UK.”

“The release of this spectrum marks a significant step in expanding 5G infrastructure and capacity, helping operators meet growing data demand and enabling new use cases such as immersive experiences, connected transport, and next-generation industrial applications.”

EE has brought its 5G speeds to 14 locations in the UK and has extended its 5G coverage to another 14 UK towns. 

It is rolling out its 5G 2100 MHz spectrum across sites that formerly provided 3G signals, and the new spectrum provides 5G smartphone experience for customers.

The list of locations receiving this upgrade include: London, Manchester, Liverpool, Bristol, Leeds, Cardiff, Belfast, Newport, Perth, Kilmarnock, Eastbourne, Scunthorpe, Chesterfield and Wellingborough. 

EE’s expansion of 5G coverage will reach: Bradford, Kidderminster, Peterborough, Bedford, Luton, Southampton, Newport, Dewsbury, Sutton in Ashfield, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Hemel Hempstead, East Kilbride, Bridgend, Carlisle.

EE managing director of consumer marketing Christian Thrane said: “To provide customers with the best smartphone experience, we are continually upgrading and expanding our 5G network. 

“By increasing capacity, our customers will get faster speeds and an even more reliable experience. 

“When combined with the enhanced benefits and services our great new pay monthly packages offer – then for those planning to get a new 5G smartphone, the message is simple: there’s only one UK network that offers the best smartphone experience.”

Ofcom has appointed Dan Lloyd to lead the regulator’s work in managing the UK’s airwaves.

Lloyd will act as leader for Ofcom’s spectrum group and boasts ore than 20-years experience across the wireless and technology sectors.

He has worked across ten countries in his career and was most recently group executive for wholesale at TPG Telecom in Australia.

During his stint at TPG, which is one of Australia’s biggest telco’s, he led the wholesale and intercarrier team, plus the cross-functional spectrum strategy group.

Lloyd has also held senior management positions with Vodafone Group in the UK and with Vodafone India.

His role will see him ensure that the UK’s wireless spectrum is used efficiently and effectively.

“The spectrum group has a critical role in managing exponentially increasing demand for innovative wireless services,” said Lloyd.

“The breadth and depth of expertise in Ofcom’s spectrum group and senior management team is simply world-class, so it is a great pleasure to be joining Melanie and the team to lead this challenging area.”

Lloyd succeeds Philip Marnick, who had held the role for just over eight years until January 2022.

Marnick’s departure saw Helen Heard take the role an on interim basis. Ofcom has confirmed Heard will remain in place until summer to “ensure continuity”.

Ofcom has announced that the scheduled UK 5G spectrum auction has been delayed until March.

The spectrum had been due to take part this month but has been stalled due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The UK regulator was planning to award the 700MHz and 3.6 to 3.8 GHz frequency bands at the spectrum.

Ofcom said it’s ‘now planning for the principal stage of the auction to begin in March 2021’.

BT is disappointed by the announcement, as confirmed in a company statement.

“We’re disappointed the auction will now be delayed although we understand the unique circumstances. The auction and subsequent release of spectrum remains central to the future rollout of mobile networks and 5G,” said is a BT spokesperson.

“The economy’s recovery from Covid-19 is dependent on resilient digital infrastructure and we urge Ofcom to resist any further requests for delays.”

Ofcom has confirmed plans to auction important airwaves to boost mobile broadband and support the 5G rollout next year.

The auction will take place in January 2021, with the total number of airwaves available for mobile in the UK up by a fifth.

Operators will be able to bid for spectrum in the 700MHz band and 3.6 to 3.8GHz band.

The regulator has revealed it is releasing 80MHz of spectrum in the 700MHz band, which will boost mobile coverage indoors and across wide areas.

Ofcom will also release 120MHz of spectrum in the 3.6 to 3.8GHz band. This will allow for people to carry more data, plus increase the capacity and quality of mobile data services.

Demand

Ofcom’s spectrum group director Philip Marnick said: “Demand for getting online on the move is soaring, and the pandemic has only increased the importance of mobile services to people and businesses.

“Releasing these airwaves promptly will bring a much-needed capacity boost, helping mobile customers get a better service.”

Ofcom will release the spectrum in a range of lots. There will be six lots of 2 x 5 MHz (60MHz in total) in the 700MHz band with a reserve price of £100 million per lot.

There is also four lots of 5MHz (20MHz) to be released as part of the 700MHz downlink-only spectrum. This comes with a reserve price of £1 million.

And there will be 24 lots of 5MHz (120MHz) of the 3.6 to 3.8GHz spectrum available, at a reserve price of £20m per lot.

Cap

There is a 37 per cent cap is in place on overall spectrum holdings, that operators can obtain.

BT (EE) will be limited to acquiring 120MHz, Three 185MHz, Vodafone 190MHz. There will be no cap on O2, due to its current spectrum holdings.

O2 is set to challenge against Ofcom over rules the regulator has set ahead of the next 5G spectrum auction.

It comes after The Financial Times reported that the operator intends to challenge Ofcom, in a move that could delay the UK’s second 5G spectrum auction by up to 18 months.

The operator wants to challenge terms in relation to the sale of 5G frequencies in the 700MHz and 3.6GHz to 3.8GHz bands.

O2 wants the spectrum be sold in contiguous blocks by Ofcom, rather than in fragmented slices.

The second auction has been placed on hold due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. It had been due to take place this year.

Disappointed

The challenge has disappointed Ofcom, which says it could “slow things down for mobile users and the economy.”

Three claimed the most spectrum during the first 5G auction, after acquiring 20MHz of 3.4GHz bandwidth.

The four operators spent £1.35 billion at the first Ofcom spectrum auction.

Mobile News has contacted O2 for comment.

Vodafone has become the first UK operator to share unused 4G spectrum as part of an effort to improve mobile broadband coverage across rural areas.

The operator has partnered with mobile service provider StrattoOpencell – who are part of the Digital Colony UK Infrastructure Platform – to provide remote areas with fibre connectivity a ‘high-speed mobile broadband’.

StrattoOpencell will use Vodafone’s 2,600MHz frequency spectrum which will deliver speeds of up to 120Mbps to consumers and businesses, but Vodafone will still continue to use its 2,600MHz spectrum in busy areas such as stadiums and city centres.

Ofcom’s decision earlier this year for operators to share spectrum has contributed to the partnership being made possible, with a holiday site in Devon one of the first benefactors of this.

Vodafone UK CEO Nick Jeffery has hailed the move to share 4G spectrum.

“We are delighted to become the first mobile company in the UK to share some of our spectrum to extend rural coverage.

“By offering some of our 4G spectrum to StrattoOpencell, we are helping to extend fast and reliable mobile network access for people in rural communities. Mobile connectivity in rural areas is just as important as it is for those in towns and cities, which is why we continue to work with others to help improve rural connectivity for all.”

Digital Colony UK Infrastructure Platform CEO Graham Payne added: “There remains a digital divide in connectivity options for those in UK’s urban centres and rural areas.

“We are pioneering new solutions and services as part of our neutral host approach to UK digital infrastructure, in order to connect more people and businesses to reliable networks. This new model takes the industry a significant step closer to enabling ubiquitous UK connectivity.”

Vodafone UK has won a legal case against regulator Ofcom over a hike in spectrum fees, which opens up the chance for rival operators to be refunded up to £220 million.

According to Financial Times, The Hight Court upheld Vodafone’s complaint that Ofcom’s huge increase in licence fees in 2015 has not followed proper processes. Ofcom has been given the right to appeal.

Vodafone launched legal actions in September 2018 to address government mandated increase in spectrum prices by Ofcom which treble annual licence fees.

In a statement, an Ofcom representative said: “This case has been decided on what is a technical and important point of law, and the judge has recognised this by granting Ofcom permission to appeal further to the Court of Appeal.”

“The mobile operators did not challenge the amount they pay for this valuable spectrum, but the judgement means they get a windfall of more than £220 million.”

In a statement, a Vodafone representative said: “We are delighted with the court’s ruling. Ofcom has previously acknowledged that it failed to follow proper process in raising the licence fees and the court has now confirmed that the over payments should be returned.”

“The repayment of these fees will enable us to invest in the country’s digital infrastructure”.

Next year’s Ofcom spectrum auction will not be sufficient alone for the UK to reach a target of 95 per cent geographical mobile coverage by 2022 set by the government, according to a senior officer at the regulator.

Speaking to the Scottish Parliament’s Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee, Ofcom CTO Mansoor Hanif said the problem of parts of the UK not having any signal at all was “really hard to solve” and creative solutions are needed.

The auction will be for spectrum in the 700MHz and 3.6-3.8GHz bands, some of which can be used for 5G. Meeting the 95 per cent coverage target would be expected to boost UK GDP by £75 billion.

Hanif said: “I think we are very clear that we are not going to get to the 95 per cent. The reality is it is improving, but clearly not fast enough and demands are increasing.”

He added that towers were not an ideal solution to the problem, as they would have to be installed in national parks and places of natural beauty.

Instead, he called for innovative solutions, saying: “I don’t really think anyone wants to build thousands of ugly towers in national parks. If there are smarter ways to achieve that [coverage] through innovation then I think we should be looking at that.”

Ofcom recently reduced the geographical targets for coverage in Scotland from 76 to 74 per cent by next year, and in England and Northern Ireland from 92 to 90 per cent.

Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee member Stewart Stevenson criticised the decision to reduce the targets, saying: “I would say that we should have no improvements in telephony services in cities of any kind, including 5G, until we get decent rural coverage.”

Operators O2 and Vodafone has announced that it has extended its networking sharing deal to cover 5G as it seeks a faster roll-out of the new technology.

Both operators plan to include 5G at joint radio network sites which will allow for a faster and more cost-effective deployment of the network to a wider geographic area.

In addition O2 and Vodafone are each deploying its own seperate radio equipment across 2,500 sites as both seek to aid greater network autonomy in larger cities. This represents around 15 per cent of sites outside London.

The operators also intend to upgrade transmission networks with higher capacity optical fibre cables that will allow customers to benefit from new 5G features such as low latency.

Telefónica UK CEO Mark Evans said: “I’m excited by the potential of these plans to meet the future needs of customers while delivering value for our business. In addition, these plans would allow us to utilise the spectrum we acquired in the last auction very effectively.”

Vodafone UK CEO Nick Jeffery added: “We believe that these plans will generate significant benefits for our business and our customers as we move into the digital era of connected devices, appliances and systems on a mass scale.

“Customers will benefit from the best 5G experience available and we will deliver even faster speeds by using our spectrum holding more effectively.”