Vodafone UK, the unit of telecom giant Vodafone Group Plc (VOD,VOD.L), on Wednesday confirmed that it has acquired certain spectrum licences in the principal round of the spectrum auction conducted by UK communications regulator Ofcom for a total amount of 790 million pounds. Apart from Vodafone, Everything Everywhere Ltd, Hutchison 3G UK Ltd, Niche Spectrum Ventures Ltd, a subsidiary of BT Group Plc (BT,BT_A.L), and Telefónica UK Ltd, of Spanish telecommunication group Telefónica S.A. (TEF,TDE.L), have all won spectrum to deliver future mobile competition in the UK. The five bidders won the 4G mobile auction for a total of 2.34 billion pounds.
Ed Richards, Ofcom Chief Executive, said, "This is a positive outcome for competition in the UK, which will lead to faster and more widespread mobile broadband, and substantial benefits for consumers and businesses across the country. We are confident that the UK will be among the most competitive markets in the world for 4G services."
Vodafone UK expects the spectrum award to support its plans to develop the next generation of mobile internet services, known as 4G, using Long Term Evolution technology.
Vodafone UK acquired spectrum of 2 x 10MHz in the 800MHz band and 2 x 20MHz in the 2.6GHz band plus an additional 25 MHz of unpaired spectrum in the 2.6 GHz band. The licences are all indefinite in length and have an initial term of 20 years.
Vodafone UK chief executive Guy Laurence said, "We've secured the low frequency mobile phone spectrum that will support the launch of our ultra-fast 4G service later this year. It will enable us to deliver services where people really want it, especially indoors."
A total of 250 MHz of spectrum was auctioned in two separate bands - 800 MHz and 2.6 GHz. This is equivalent to two-thirds of the radio frequencies currently used by wireless devices such as tablets, smartphones and laptops.
In the auction, Everything Everywhere will pay 588.88 million pounds, Hutchison will pay 225 million pounds, Niche Spectrum will pay 186.5 million pounds, and Telefónica will pay 550 million pounds.
Ofcom said the auction has achieved its purpose of promoting strong competition in the 4G mobile market. This is expected to lead to faster mobile broadband speeds, lower prices, greater innovation, new investment and better coverage. The regulator expects that almost the whole UK population will be able to receive 4G mobile services by the end of 2017 at the latest.
In London, Vodafone shares are currently trading at 162.77 pence, down 0.73 pence or 0.45 percent.
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