The UK’s 2012 spectrum auction should focus on 4G’s capabilities and not try to right the perceived wrongs of previous frequency auctions, the CEO of mobile operator O2 said today.
Ronan Dunne told delegates at the Westminster eForum conference that…
The UK’s 2012 spectrum auction should focus on 4G’s capabilities and not try to right the perceived wrongs of previous frequency auctions, the CEO of mobile operator O2 said today.
Ronan Dunne told delegates at the Westminster eForum conference that “there are a lot of people who would like to think that the auction should right wrongs” in the auctions for 2G and 3G, but “this is a 4G auction”.
Dunne called on operators and the government to work together to keep the auction process simple to avoid further delays in rolling out 4G services.
“A simple process with fewer conditions would reduce the scope for legal challenge and delay,” he said.
He also pointed to how the UK is already behind countries such as Germany, where operators are commercially deploying LTE networks.
However, Mark Falcon, head of economic regulation at rival mobile operator Three, told the same conference that the UK has the most unequal allocation of spectrum in Europe.
He called on regulators to make more effort to champion competition, and 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.