Telefonica, Vodafone, BT, Hutchison Win in UK Mobile Airwaves Auction -Ofcom

   By Adria Calatayud 
 

Telefonica SA (TEF.MC), Vodafone Group PLC (VOD.LN), BT Group PLC (BT.A.LN) and CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd.(0001.HK) have won U.K. mobile bandwidth in the latest auction, the country's communications regulator said Thursday.

The Office of Communications said the auction, which raised 1.36 billion pounds ($1.9 billion), will boost current 4G and future 5G mobile services.

Ofcom awarded Telefonica U.K. all of the 2.3-gigahertz spectrum, which is usable by current mobile phones, available for GBP205.9 million. It also awarded Telefonica 40 megahertz of the 3.4-gigahertz spectrum, which is one of the bands earmarked for 5G, for GBP317.7 million.

Vodafone got 50 megahertz of the 3.4-gigahertz spectrum for GBP378.2 million, while BT's EE Ltd. won 40 megahertz of the 3.4-gigahertz spectrum for GBP302.6 million, the regulator said. Hutchison 3G Ltd., parent of Three UK, won 20 megahertz of the 3.4-gigahertz spectrum for GBP151.3 million.

Airspan Spectrum Holdings Ltd. wasn't awarded any bandwidth in the auction, Ofcom said.

The regulator said it will now move to the assignment stage, which is the last bidding stage of the auction and is a short process. The final auction results are expected to be published shortly afterward, it said.

Write to Adria Calatayud at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 05, 2018 02:53 ET (06:53 GMT)

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