The CEO of UK mobile operator 3 has called for spectrum caps to be placed on next year’s 4G auction to ensure his group is not swallowed up by rival operators.
There is a risk of 3 being squeezed out of the market if operators Vodafone, Everything…
The CEO of UK mobile operator 3 has called for spectrum caps to be placed on next year’s 4G auction to ensure his group is not swallowed up by rival operators.
There is a risk of 3 being squeezed out of the market if operators Vodafone, Everything Everywhere and O2 are allowed to place bids with strategic premiums, Kevin Russell warned in an interview with the Financial Times yesterday.
There could also be consolidation in the marketplace if 3 is blocked out of spectrum, he added.
A spokesman for 3 told TelecomFinance that, to increase competition, the group is also calling for low frequency spectrum to be reserved for a non 2G licence holder.
Russell’s comments follow a call by Ronan Dunne, CEO of UK mobile operator O2, for government and companies to work together to keep the auction process simple and avoid further delays in rolling out 4G services.
“A simple process with fewer conditions would reduce the scope for legal challenge and delay,” he told the Westminster eForum conference in London on 1 March.
However, Mark Falcon, head of economic regulation at 3, told the same conference that the UK has the most unequal allocation of spectrum in Europe.
He called on regulators to resist the lobbying efforts of spectrum incumbents to keep the playing field uneven.
TelecomFinance understands that UK regulator Ofcom is planning to unveil the rules for its next spectrum auction in the week commencing 21 March, and not the 14 March date cited by some reports.
Ofcom had previously planned to outline the measures, which could include spectrum caps, at the end of February.
