British telecoms regulator Ofcom has confirmed that six companies have qualified to participate in its forthcoming spectrum auction, which it expects to start in late-March. The regulator said that, having assessed the applications submitted by the 8 February deadline, the following companies have been selected to proceed to the actual sale process: Airspan Spectrum Holdings Limited; EE Limited; Connexin Limited; Hutchison 3G UK Limited; Telefónica UK Limited; and Vodafone Limited. All pre-qualified applicants now have three days to confirm whether they wish to take part, or withdraw from the process, and a final list of bidders will be published once that period passes.
Spectrum in two bands is to be made available through the upcoming auction and includes 40MHz in the 2.3GHz band and 150MHz in the 3.4GHz band. Commenting on the latest development, Philip Marnick, Ofcom’s Spectrum Group Director, said: ‘We’re pressing ahead with the auction to make these airwaves available as quickly as possible. This will benefit today’s mobile users by providing more capacity for mobile broadband use. It will also pave the way for 5G – allowing operators to launch the next generation of mobile technology.’