Rural UK ISP Wessex Internet, which is rolling out a full fibre gigabit broadband network across isolated parts of Dorset, Wiltshire, Hampshire and Somerset in England, has celebrated after they won the Rural Enterprise category for the South West region of the 2024 Countryside Alliance Awards.

The Countryside Alliance Awards, which are now in their 17th year, were setup to help recognise businesses that go the extra mile within their communities, such as by supporting the local economy and championing local goods and services. Wessex Internet was initially nominated anonymously by their customers, before later topping a public vote to win the award.

At present the operators existing broadband network footprint is vaguely said to cover “tens of thousands of homes” (some of this may relate to their older fixed wireless infrastructure), while their current business plan targets an “additional” 150,000 premises by 2027 through a combination of subsidised and unsubsidised capital investment.

More recently, we’ve also seen Wessex Internet scoop the government’s Project Gigabit roll-out contracts for rural parts of North Dorset (Lot 14.01 – £6m to cover 7,100 premises), the New Forest – Hampshire (Lot 27.01 – £14m to cover 10,500 premises), South Wiltshire (Lot 30 – £18.8m to cover 14,500 premises) and Dorset and South Somerset (Lot 14 – £33.5m to cover 21,400 premises).

Hector Gibson Fleming, CEO at Wessex Internet, said:

“We have always sought to be champions and enablers of the rural economy – through providing ultrafast broadband to areas overlooked by other companies, as an employer of choice for hundreds of local people, and by working in consultation with rural communities and landowners in how we build our network.

I am also delighted for our neighbours at the Child Okeford Village Shop and know first-hand how popular the shop is with our teams. With many villages unfortunately seeing the closure of local amenities, we are lucky to have a nearby shop that provides many locally sourced products – including delicious deli lunches – and an essential Post Office service. By providing ultrafast broadband to Child Okeford and other villages like it, Wessex Internet will also continue doing our part to help rural communities thrive.”

Last year also saw Wessex Internet being named ‘Fibre Provider of the Year’ at the 2023 UK Fibre Awards, as well as winning ‘Best Rural Provider’ for the second year running, and was awarded ‘Best Rural ISP’ at the 2023 ISPA Awards.

Prices for their full fibre packages start at £29 per month for a 100Mbps (15Mbps upload) tier on a 12-month term, but this only comes with a meagre 100GB data allowance (£44 for unlimited), and you’ll have to pay £49 (one-off) for activation. By comparison, their top unlimited usage plan will give 900Mbps (450Mbps upload) for £79 per month, which is fairly expensive by today’s standards, albeit still good if nobody else can supply FTTP.

Low-cost UK mobile operator iD Mobile (Currys), which uses Three UK’s national 4G and 5G network via a virtual operator (MVNO) partnership, has today claimed to be launching a “new” set of fixed price SIM Only mobile plans that pledge not to hike their prices each year by the rate of inflation.

The pledge isn’t actually all that surprising when you consider that Ofcom are already in the process of effectively banning any mid-contract price increases that are linked to either inflation or percentage (%) based changes (here). But the regulator’s change doesn’t completely rule out other mid-contract price hikes, which is where iD Mobile’s commitment to “fixed price” plans may come in handy.

On the other hand, iD Mobile has been promising a “SIM Only Price Lock” with “no annual price rises” alongside their mobile plans since around early February 2024, so that aspect isn’t terribly new. The announcement also fails to include any pricing details of the new plans more generally, which might be because they haven’t changed all that much.

For example, a quick look this morning shows that their entry-level package on a 24-month term now gives you 8GB (GigaBytes) of data with unlimited calls/texts for £7 per month, which is actually £1 more expensive than it was before (note: you get 6GB on a 12-month term for the same price and 5GB for a 30-day term). The top unlimited data plans also seem to be unchanged at £17 for a 24-month term. But it’s possible they haven’t launched the new plans yet (we’re checking).

Lewis Henry, Customer and Marketing Director at iD Mobile, said:

“We understand that in the current cost of living crisis, people are actively seeking better deals across all their everyday essentials. So, we’re fixing our prices across all of our SIM only plans.”

Take note that all of iD Mobile’s plans come with access to 5G, free Data Rollover and inclusive Roaming in 50 destinations worldwide as standard.

Network operator nexfibre, which shares the same parentage as Virgin Media (VMO2), has this morning announced that they’ve extended their new 10Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP / XGS-PON) broadband ISP network to cover 1 million UK premises passed (Ready for Service), which is up from 830,000 in December 2023.

In case a recap is needed. Telefónica, Liberty Global and InfraVia Capital Partners originally setup the new £4.5bn nexfibre joint venture in 2022 (here), which aims to deploy an open access fibre network to reach “up to” 7 million UK homes (starting with 5m by 2026) in areas NOT currently served by Virgin Media’s network of 16m+ premises. The funding reflects £3.3bn of fully underwritten financing and up to £1.4bn in equity commitments.

Nexfibre says they’ve “reached one million premises faster than any other operator” (see build map / progress), achieving it in just 14 months, through their build partnership with Virgin Media. The operator is also in the process of investing another £1bn during 2024 in order for them cover an additional 1 million UK premises (on top of their existing footprint).

“The business is set to deliver its network to more premises than any other fibre provider in 2024, except for the incumbent, which will make it the UK’s second-largest network provider in only its second year of operations,” said the announcement. But this statement seems to conflate pace of build with overall coverage, which ignores the fact that CityFibre already covers 3.5 million UK premises (3.2m RFS) and could potentially add up to 1.5-3m extra premises over the next two years via both new build and M&A (mergers) activity (here).

Rajiv Datta, CEO of nexfibre, said:

“It’s thanks to the hard work of our team, our partners, and the commitment of our investors that we are able to mark this significant milestone on our path to reaching 5 million premises by 2026.

And we’re just getting started. As we continue to accelerate activity, we remain steadfast in our commitment to delivering the high-quality digital infrastructure that has the power to create lasting value in the communities we serve.

We firmly believe that we are building a platform to foster sustainable competition in the UK fibre market, that will drive innovation for generations to come.”

At the time of writing, it remains unclear whether the new coverage figure includes the 175,000 FTTP premises strong network acquired last year from Upp (here), which at the last update was still in the process of being integrated and so hadn’t yet been included into their coverage figure(s). We suspect the same may still be true today, but are currently trying to confirm.

News 

The investment cements Abu Dhabi and the wider United Arab Emirates (UAE)’s position as a global AI hub 

Microsoft and UAE-based AI company G42 have announced a strategic partnership to accelerate AI innovation in the UAE and neighbouring regions.  

The partnership involves a $1.5 billion investment in G42 from Microsoft, giving them an unspecified minority stake in the company.  

Brad Smith, Microsoft’s Vice Chair and President, will also join G42’s board of directors.  

The focus of the partnership is to innovate and deliver advanced AI solutions supported by Microsoft Azure across various industries, including finance, healthcare, energy, government, and education. 

Specifically, Microsoft will give G42 permission to sell Microsoft services that use AI chips and in return, G42 will use Microsoft’s cloud platform to run its AI applications. 

“The commercial partnership is backed by assurances to the US and UAE governments through a first-of-its-kind binding agreement to apply world-class best practices to ensure the secure, trusted, and responsible development and deployment of AI,” read the press release. 

The partnership also includes initiatives to train AI talent through a $1 billion fund for developers, promoting skills development and fostering innovation in emerging markets. 

“Through Microsoft’s strategic investment, we are advancing our mission to deliver cutting-edge AI technologies at scale. This partnership significantly enhances our international market presence, combining G42’s unique AI capabilities with Microsoft’s robust global infrastructure,” said G42 CEO Peng Xiao in a press release. 

The ongoing US-China power struggle for the UAE 

‘This investment takes place against the backdrop of both the US and China attempting to grow their influence in the UAE’s flourishing technology industry’. The deal has been finalised in close collaboration with both the US and UAE governments to ensure that G42 is fully compliant with US regulations.  

President Biden’s government has been notably concerned over increasing closeness between The Gulf Cooperation Council and China, a relationship which would potentially limit companies in the Middle East from being trusted partners in the US.  

Back in January, Representative Mike Gallagher (R-WI), Chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, expressed concerns that G42 had links to Chinese firms blacklisted by the US government, including Huawei, which G42 denied.  

Then, in February, G42 announced its intention to divest in its Chinese businesses interests, a move G42 explained as an effort to reassure US partners, who include US private equity firm Silver Lake, of data sovereignty.  

The size of the divestments was not disclosed, but stakes included an estimated $100m in ByteDance, owner of TikTok.  

Speaking to the Financial Times, Xiao said “For better or for worse, as a commercial company, we are in a position where we have to make a choice. We cannot work with both sides.” 

The New York Times’ report adds that the deal today puts protections on the AI materials Microsoft may share with G42. These include an agreement for G42 to remove Chinese equipment from their operations, including Huawei equipment, which the US government fears “could provide a backdoor for Chinese intelligence agencies.” 

“In order for us to preserve our relationship – which we cherish – with our US partners, we simply cannot do much more with Chinese partners,”said Xiao. 

The US position on the matter remains painfully clear, as laid out by numerous government representatives.  

“When it comes to emerging technology, you cannot be both in China’s camp and our camp,” said Gina Raimondo, the Commerce Secretary, according to a report from the New York Times. 

Keep up to date with the latest international telecoms news by subscribing to the Total Telecom daily newsletter

Also in the news:
South Korea to invest $7 billion in AI semiconductors
Swisscom expands 5G partnership with Ericsson
Daisy Group set to acquire 4Com for £215m 

News 

The investment cements Abu Dhabi and the wider United Arab Emirates (UAE)’ position as a global AI hub 

Microsoft and UAE-based AI company G42 have announced a strategic partnership to accelerate AI innovation in the UAE and neighbouring regions.  

The partnership involves a $1.5 billion investment in G42 from Microsoft, giving them an unspecified minority stake in the company.  

Brad Smith, Microsoft’s Vice Chair and President, will also join G42’s board of directors.  

The focus of the partnership is to innovate and deliver advanced AI solutions supported by Microsoft Azure across various industries, including finance, healthcare, energy, government, and education. 

Specifically, Microsoft will give G42 permission to sell Microsoft services that use AI chips and in return, G42 will use Microsoft’s cloud platform to run its AI applications. 

“The commercial partnership is backed by assurances to the US and UAE governments through a first-of-its-kind binding agreement to apply world-class best practices to ensure the secure, trusted, and responsible development and deployment of AI,” read the press release. 

The partnership also includes initiatives to train AI talent through a $1 billion fund for developers, promoting skills development and fostering innovation in emerging markets. 

“Through Microsoft’s strategic investment, we are advancing our mission to deliver cutting-edge AI technologies at scale. This partnership significantly enhances our international market presence, combining G42’s unique AI capabilities with Microsoft’s robust global infrastructure,” said G42 CEO Peng Xiao in a press release. 

The ongoing US-China power struggle for the UAE 

‘This investment takes place against the backdrop of both the US and China attempting to grow their influence in the UAE’s flourishing technology industry’. The deal has been finalised in close collaboration with both the US and UAE governments to ensure that G42 is fully compliant with US regulations.  

President Biden’s government has been notably concerned over increasing closeness between The Gulf Cooperation Council and China, a relationship which would potentially limit companies in the Middle East from being trusted partners in the US.  

Back in January, Representative Mike Gallagher (R-WI), Chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, expressed concerns that G42 had links to Chinese firms blacklisted by the US government, including Huawei, which G42 denied.  

Then, in February, G42 announced its intention to divest in its Chinese businesses interests, a move G42 explained as an effort to reassure US partners, who include US private equity firm Silver Lake, of data sovereignty.  

The size of the divestments was not disclosed, but stakes included an estimated $100m in ByteDance, owner of TikTok.  

Speaking to the Financial Times, Xiao said “For better or for worse, as a commercial company, we are in a position where we have to make a choice. We cannot work with both sides.” 

The New York Times’ report adds that the deal today puts protections on the AI materials Microsoft may share with G42. These include an agreement for G42 to remove Chinese equipment from their operations, including Huawei equipment, which the US government fears “could provide a backdoor for Chinese intelligence agencies.” 

“In order for us to preserve our relationship – which we cherish – with our US partners, we simply cannot do much more with Chinese partners,.”said Xiao. 

The US position on the matter remains painfully clear, as laid out by numerous government representatives.  

“When it comes to emerging technology, you cannot be both in China’s camp and our camp,” said Gina Raimondo, the Commerce Secretary, according to a report from the New York Times.  

Keep up to date with the latest international telecoms by subscribing to the Total Telecom daily newsletter

Also in the news:
South Korea to invest $7 billion in AI semiconductors
Swisscom expands 5G partnership with Ericsson
Daisy Group set to acquire 4Com for £215m

News 

Virgin Media O2 (VMO2) has announced a partnership with satellite provider Starlink to boost mobile services in the UK’s most remote areas 

The operator will use Starlink’s constellation of over 5,000 Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites to support backhaul services across the country.  

Traditionally, mobile infrastructure relies on fibre optic cables or wireless point-to-point connections for backhaul, i.e., transmit data between the cell towers to the core of the network. However, in regions like the Scottish Highlands, these conventional methods are impractical, being both expensive and difficult to deploy give the areas remoteness and challenging geography.  

Through Starlink’s network of LEO satellites, VMO2 can establish reliable backhaul connections to remote masts without needing to deploy this expensive terrestrial network infrastructure.  

VMO2 notes that it has already conducted successful tests of the technology in the Scottish Highlands. 

This project has been delivered in collaboration with Telefónica Global Solutions, which is an official Starlink reseller. “By constantly finding new ways to deliver for our customers, we are bringing reliable mobile coverage to rural communities faster and helping to close the UK’s digital divide,” said Jeanie York, Chief Technology Officer at VMO2 in a press release. 

VMO2 also noted that this new partnership with Starlink will help to accelerate its Shared Rural Network (SRN) rollout by enabling new cell sites to be deployed in remote areas. 

The SRN aims to deploy 4G coverage to 95% of the UK by 2025. The £1 billion scheme is a partnership between the UK’s four mobile operators (EE, Three, Vodafone, and Virgin Media O2), and is funded by £532 million from the operators themselves and £500 million from the UK government.  

Back in January, EE announced that they had become the UK’s first MNO to compete the SRN’s first phase. To do this, operators had to commit to getting rid of ‘partial not-spots’ by extending the reach of their 4G networks. ‘Partial not-spots’ are defined as areas that receive coverage from at least one operator, but not all of them. 

Looking ahead, VMO2 noted that it is also exploring other ways satellite connectivity can benefit customers including providing coverage for emergency services and improved connectivity at events.  

Catch Virgin Media O2 at this year’s Connected North event, 22-23 April in Manchester. Get your tickets now 

Also in the news:
South Korea to invest $7 billion in AI semiconductors
Swisscom expands 5G partnership with Ericsson
Daisy Group set to acquire 4Com for £215m

News

Multiple fixed-wireless access (FWA) providers have voiced concern that T-Mobile’s 5G network has interfered with their ability to provide uninterrupted services.

By: Brad Randall, Broadband Communities

Providers of fixed wireless services in Maine, New York, and Maryland have blamed T-Mobile for disruptions to their operations, with one company even reporting the issue to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

In a March FCC filing, Bloosurf, a FWA provider that serves the Delmarva Peninsula, alleged “T-Mobile’s 5G operations are causing interference to Bloosurf’s network and its customers.”

The company’s filing, formally an Application for Review, requests that the FCC “require T-Mobile to cease 5G operations in areas impacting Bloosurf” and stay the grant of T-Mobile’s Auction 108 licenses.

The FCC’s Auction 108 licenses, awarded in 2022, offered spectrum in the 2.5 GHz band.

As the incumbent provider the Eastern Shore area, which encompasses portions of Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia, Bloosurf’s Application for Review mentioned precedent set by a prior FCC Memorandum Opinion and Order.

The 1977 order, quoted in Bloosurf’s filing, determines that ‘newcomers’ in a given service area are financially responsible “for taking whatever steps may be necessary to eliminate objectionable interference.”

“Although Bloosurf and T-Mobile have engaged in some informal interference testing, T-Mobile’s failure to meaningfully cooperate with the parties’ testing efforts undermined any efforts to yield a solution, thus forcing Bloosurf to file its informal interference complaint with the FCC,” Bloosurf’s March 28 filing stated.

The filing also requested that the FCC reinstate Bloosurf’s prior informal complaint on the matter and “take all actions to eliminate the interference.”

Previously, in Feb. of this year, Bloosurf’s informal complaint was dismissed by the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau on procedural grounds.

While Bloosurf is the first company to take the matter to the FCC , other ISPs have voiced similar concerns.

In a recent report published on LightReading.com, the CEO of Redzone Wireless was quoted as saying the Rockport, Maine-based company had lost customers because of alleged disruptions from T-Mobile’s 5G network. The same report quoted an unnamed official as saying T-Mobile’s 5G network had “crippled” parts of provider NextWave’s New York network.

While Bloosurf holds out hope for FCC enforcement, T-Mobile has continued efforts to acquire additional licenses for spectrum in the 2.5 GHz band. Through comments to the FCC, the company has urged the agency to utilize Special Temporary Authority’ (STA) to release spectrum, approve spectrum-sharing, or lease spectrum licenses.

In March 2023, Congress declined to renew the FCC’s authority to conduct spectrum auctions.

After the FCC lost auction authority, T-Mobile was unable to access the licenses it was awarded during Auction 108, which occurred while the FCC still had auction authority. Ultimately, legislation from Congress instructed the FCC to release auction winnings, but did not restore broader authority.

T-Mobile, which is seeking additional spectrum in New York, along with assignments in California, Louisiana, Kentucky, and North Carolina, noted that there are well-established processes for issuing STAs, implying that spectrum can be available quickly if the FCC activates STA.

According to the firm’s comments, additional spectrum assignments to T-Mobile would “meet the (FCC’s) goal of more efficient use of the spectrum and serve the public interest.”

Reporting from Maddie Hicks, of Total Telecom, contributed to this article.

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WALTHAM, MA — April 16, 2024 — Netcracker Technology announced today that Play, the operator that acquired UPC Poland and is part of iliad, a major European telecommunications group, has extended its relationship with Netcracker for professional services and Digital BSS, which provides support for a number of functions, from onboarding new subscribers to service activation, including billing and payments.

Play, the leading operator in Poland, offers mobile, broadband Internet and television services to customers throughout the country over its extensive mobile and fixed networks. By continuing to incorporate Netcracker’s professional services, Play will gain numerous benefits, including the highest level of system performance, visibility into critical business processes, the ability to quickly launch new products and services and unmatched service quality.

“We have been working with Netcracker for many years, through several business changes and acquisitions, and we appreciate the extensive experience and knowledge to help us in key areas, such as application development and supporting our BSS stack,” said Pawel Passowicz, Chief IT Officer at Play. “We are happy to continue our engagement going forward.”

“Play has grown and evolved over the years, making this a truly fulfilling partnership for Netcracker,” said Benedetto Spaziani, GM at Netcracker. “We are proud to be Play’s vendor of choice for BSS and support and maintenance, which when combined deliver a strong solution for the future.”

About Netcracker Technology

Rapid digitization is disrupting the status quo of today’s communications markets. Constantly evolving customer needs and behaviors require service providers to adapt quickly and diversify their businesses to deliver the outcomes that their customers expect. Building digital ecosystems, anticipating customer requirements and delivering a digital-first experience are essential for service providers to accelerate innovation, expand into new markets and become the disruptors in the 5G era.

Netcracker Technology, a wholly-owned subsidiary of NEC Corporation, has the expertise, culture and resources to help service providers around the world transform their businesses to thrive in a digital economy. Our innovative solutions – including our flagship cloud-native Netcracker Digital Platform – value-driven services and unbroken delivery track record of three decades help service providers to achieve their digital transformation goals, drive the telco to techco evolution within their organizations and realize business growth and profitability. For more information, visit www.netcracker.com.

Media Contact

Anita Karvé
Netcracker Technology
MediaGroup@Netcracker.com

News

Auramo joins from enterprise resource planning giant SAP, where she was Chief Business Officer for the EMEA region

This week, Vodafone Group has finally announced a new CEO for Vodafone Business in the form of Marika Auramo, currently the Chief Business Officer for the EMEA region for software specialist SAP.

Auramo’s career at SAP spanned various roles over the past 25 years, including COO EMEA North, Managing Director for the Nordic and Baltic region, Global COO of SAP Database and Data Management in the US, and Interim President of the EMEA region.

Auramo will officially begin the role on July 1 this year, taking over from Giorgio Migliarina, the Group Director of Products and Services, who has served in the role of interim CEO of Vodafone Business since September 2023.

Migliarina himself had filled the vacant role after the departure of Vinod Kumar, who had held the position of CEO for four years.

Speaking on the appointment, Vodafone Group CEO Margherita Della Valle said she “delighted that Marika will be joining Vodafone to lead our Business division, a key growth driver.”

“She brings extensive B2B experience from the IT industry, and I look forward to welcoming her as a member of our Executive Committee,” she added.

“I am looking forward to working with Margherita and the management team and to engaging with Vodafone’s customers and partners,” said Auramo. “Vodafone Business has strong growth opportunities ahead – as large corporates, SMEs and the public sector look to adopt more digital tools to enhance growth and productivity – and I will be working alongside my new colleagues to capture this.”

The appointment means that each of the five new business divisions created by Della Valle – Germany, European Markets, Africa, Vodafone Business, and Vodafone Investments – now has a full time CEO.

In related news, last month saw Vodafone UK announce Max Taylor, the company’s Chief Commercial Officer, take over the role of company CEO from Ahmed Essam.

Essam, meanwhile, will become Executive Chairman of Vodafone Germany and CEO of Vodafone’s European Markets.

Join the UK’s telecoms industry as they discuss the sector’s biggest topics at this year’s Connected North conference live in Manchester

Also in the news:
South Korea to invest $7 billion in AI semiconductors
Swisscom expands 5G partnership with Ericsson
Daisy Group set to acquire 4Com for £215m

The UK telecoms and media regulator, Ofcom, has today issued several updates to their planned auction design for releasing a large chunk of millimetre wave (mmW) radio spectrum frequency in the 26GHz and 40GHz bands, which will be used by mobile operators to deliver faster 5G (mobile broadband) services – mostly in urban areas.

The major mobile operators (EE, O2, Vodafone and Three UK) already have access to several 5G bands between 700MHz and 3.8GHz. Such frequency reflects the same sort of mid-band radio spectrum that mobile operators have been harnessing since the advent of the first 3G and 4G data networks many years ago.

The move to auction off the two higher frequencies of 26GHz and 40GHz is designed to complement existing bands by providing mobile operators with lots of additional spectrum frequency, which means more data capacity to potentially support extremely fast speeds (e.g. multi-Gigabit performance). But mmW bands deliver extremely weak signals, which means they’re best for serving busy areas (e.g. city shopping malls, airports, events etc.) and fixed wireless broadband (FWA) links.

Ofcom set out the details for the related auction process at the end of 2023 (here), which will award several 15-year, fixed term citywide licences (“high density areas”) to use the “new” mmWave bands in 68 major towns and cities across the UK, as well as some localised licences for “low density areas” within those cities via their Shared Access licensing framework.

In the latest update, the regulator has also made a final decision on three outstanding issues in the 26GHz and 40GHz auction process.

Ofcom’s Updates to the Auction Process

1. The auction will NOT include, during the final assignment stage, a negotiation period which would normally give winners of spectrum in a band an opportunity to agree that their respective allocations of spectrum will be adjacent (mostly due to the unknowns around what cost savings, spectrum sharing and other benefits may arise for these bands).

2. Ofcom has decided to adopt the assignment stage rules initially proposed in the March 2023 Statement and Consultation (including the clarifications provided in November 2023).

3. Ofcom will not include rules governing the location of any unsold spectrum in the 40 GHz band in the assignment stage of the auction, other than to require that any unsold 40GHz lots are treated as a single, contiguous block.

4. The regulator also added that they were “minded to increase the initial deposit” that applicants will be required to submit from £100,000 to £1m, which they said is intended to “deter frivolous applications and mitigate the risk of disruption to the auction process“. But stakeholders will have a further opportunity to comment on such amounts when Ofcom consult on the Auction Regulations.

The regulator is today also consulting on the Statutory Instruments that are necessary to run the auction (here). “These enable us to limit the number of licences and allow bidders to trade licences once issued. We invite comments on the proposed Statutory Instruments by 28th May 2024,” said Ofcom.

Finally, Ofcom have also confirmed a modification to the grant of recognised spectrum access that protects the radio astronomy site in Cambridge, while enabling other users to use this spectrum; and they have clarified how they will coordinate auction winners with incumbent fixed links, for the short period during which they will both have access to the spectrum.

In the past, the years leading up to a new mobile spectrum auction have often been ugly affairs, which tend to involve a lot of squabbling between mobile operators, legal challenges and significant delays. But the mmW bands are new territory and the operators are likely to find harnessing them more of a challenge, which may arguably make them less competitively contentious.

At the same time, Ofcom won’t be proceeding with this auction until AFTER the UK’s competition watchdog (CMA) has decided on the proposed merger between Vodafone and Three UK (here and here), which is sensible as that deal may result in some changes to competitive spectrum holdings (i.e. Three UK and Vodafone may be required to divest some of their spectrum to avoid gaining an unfair competitive advantage).

The CMA’s final decision on the proposed merger between Three UK and Vodafone isn’t expected until later in 2024, and it may then take a bit longer before Ofcom can actually begin the auction process itself (possibly pushing this into 2025), assuming there are no legal squabbles along the way (a risky assumption, given the history of such auctions).