LONDON, Nov 21 (Reuters) - Britain will sell a new batch ofmobile broadband spectrum next year in an auction designed toprevent the biggest player, BT/EE, from becoming toodominant.
Telecoms regulator Ofcom said on Monday it would auction 190MHz of spectrum in the 2.3 GHz and 3.4 GHz bands - an increaseof just under a third of the total mobile spectrum currentlyavailable.
In order to maintain competition between the four mobileoperators, Ofcom said it would prevent BT/EE from bidding forspectrum in the 2.3 GHz band.
Ofcom said BT/EE currently holds 45 percent of immediatelyuseable UK mobile spectrum, ahead of Vodafone on 28 percent, O2on 15 percent and Three on 12 percent.
The 150 MHz of spectrum to be sold in the 3.4 band is notcurrently used by most mobile devices, but is likely to beusable by future devices in coming years. Ofcom will not proposea cap on the 3.4 GHz band. (Reporting by Kate Holton; editing by Sarah Young)
Vodafone (VOD)
