Hewitt Announces 28 GHz Broadband Licence Winners

DTI Press Release - 20 November 2000

Patricia Hewitt, Minister for e-Commerce and Small Business today announced the successful bidders in the Broadband Fixed Wireless Access (BFWA) 28GHz auction.

The provisional licence winners are:

Energis Local Access Ltd - six licences in Greater London, Greater Manchester, West Midlands, Yorkshire, Scotland and Northern Ireland;
Norweb Telecom Ltd - four licences in Greater Manchester, West Midlands, Yorkshire and North England;
Faultbasic Ltd - three licences in Greater London, Greater Manchester and West Midlands;
Broadnet UK Ltd - one licence in Greater London;
Chorus Communication Ltd - one licence in Northern Ireland; and,
Eircom NI Ltd - one licence in Northern Ireland.

Ms Hewitt said:

"As a result of this auction 60% of the UK's population will have access to a new source of high speed internet. This will provide competition to fibre, cable links, DSL phone lines and satellite, which also offer access to broadband services. It will add to the broadband coverage provided by these technologies and bring us closer to the delivery of broadband services across the UK. There will be further opportunities to develop wireless broadband services when licences are offered next year for spectrum at 3.4 GHz, 10 GHz and 40 GHz." "I have asked for a report on the outcome of the auction to help us plan for future spectrum allocations. This will involve talking to operators and other interested parties on how BFWA can be developed into a commercial proposition in all parts of the country. It will examine also the scope for awarding licences in those regions where no licences were sold.

"We will work with public and private sector stakeholders to pull together various broadband initiatives that are being pursued at national, regional and local level into an effective programme for getting broadband services to every part of the UK."

The auction began on 10 November and was managed by the Radiocommunications Agency, which is responsible for the licensing and administration of the radio spectrum. Progress of the auction has been published round by round on the spectrum auctions website: http://www.spectrumauctions.gov.uk

Notes to Editors:

1. 16 licences were sold. £38,160,000 was raised by the auction.

2. The Government auctioned three spectrum licences in the 28GHz band in each of 11 English regions, plus Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

3. Full results of the auction are available on the Radiocommunications Agency website http://www.radio.gov.uk and on http://www.spectrumauctions.gov.uk.

4. Ten bidders qualified to take part in the auction: Broadnet UK Ltd; Chorus Communication Ltd; Eircom NI Ltd; Energis Local Access Ltd; Faultbasic Ltd; FirstMark Communications (UK) Ltd; Formus Communications UK Ltd; Norweb Telecom Ltd; Unica BFWA Ltd; and, Winstar Communications Ltd.

5. The granting of a licence is conditional on satisfaction of any pre-conditions. The winning bidders will be asked to notify any such pre-conditions. These might include any need for shareholder approval, which could not be obtained until after the auction, or a requirement to end an association with another bidder, which must be eliminated before the licence, is granted.

6. The Radiocommunications Agency is an executive agency of the DTI, responsible for licensing civil use of the radio spectrum in the UK.


Department of Trade and Industry 1 Victoria Street London SW1H 0ET

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