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09|10|06

Ofcom awards licence following spectrum auction

Ofcom today confirmed that it had awarded a Wireless Telegraphy Act licence for the 412-414 MHz paired with 422-424 MHz frequencies to Arqiva following Ofcom’s second spectrum auction.

The licence, which is effective immediately, is technology and service neutral; this means that the licensee has the freedom to use the spectrum how it wishes, within certain technical limits.

The single-round sealed bid auction was held at Ofcom’s head office at Riverside House in London on 5 October. The auction was for 4 MHz of spectrum in four lots; Arqiva won all four lots with a bid of £1,500,025.

The unsuccessful bidders were: AirRadio Limited; Motorola Ltd; T-Mobile (UK) Ltd; The Joint Radio Company Limited; and Ventura Team Spectrum One Limited.

For full details of all the bids see the Related Items.

Section 3(2) of the Communications Act 2003 requires Ofcom to secure the optimal use of the spectrum and section 154 of the Act requires Ofcom, in carrying out its spectrum management functions, to have regard to the extent to which spectrum is available for use. In January 2005 Ofcom published the Spectrum Framework Review: Implementation Plan which proposed a number of awards across a wide range of spectrum.

The 412-414 MHz paired with 422-424 MHz auction was Ofcom’s second spectrum auction. The first auction concluded in May 2006 with the award of 12 Wireless Telegraphy Act licences for the frequencies 1781.7-1785 MHz paired with 1876.7-1880 MHz.

Ends.

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