3GScottishUser
31st July 2005, 05:26 PM
From Reuters/Yahoo News (30/07/2005):
LONDON (Reuters) - Ofcom is preparing to auction five to 10 low-power radio spectrum licences in a move that could lead to a host of low-cost, local mobile phone firms breaking into one of Europe's most competitive telecoms markets.
The telecoms and media regulator said on Thursday it planned to award the licences after one round of sealed bids and called for industry comments by September 16. Bidders would be able to buy only one licence and each licence would be tradable and last for at least 10 years.
The auction planned for later this year or in 2006 of the new licences, which will work over the 1781.7-1785 Megahertz and 1876.7-1880 MHz band, will be the first a series of planned spectrum tenders by 2008. And it has already sparked interest and enthusiasm from potential new entrants.
Martin Wren-Hilton, the founder and chief executive of start-up Coffee Telecom, said he hoped to offer mobile phone services at fixed-line prices in places such as coffee shops throughout the country.
"We will be offering low-cost mobile telephony in the UK in what we call 'coffee zones'," he told Reuters. "Locations could be either at work or in places such as (coffee chain) Costa Coffee, where you can make calls over the Coffee network and be charged at landline rates."
Wren-Hilton said his service, which he plans to launch in early 2006, should allow the country's 60 million mobile phone users to manually select the Coffee network on their handsets when they were within the network area to access cheap calls.
Ofcom has said other potential bidders could include those keen on offering services in university campuses or office buildings.
The world has changed since Britain pioneered European auctions of high-speed, third-generation mobile phone licences in 2000, which raised more than 100 billion euros (69 billion pounds) and helped fuel a precipitous drop in telecoms shares.
Asked how much the regulator hoped to raise by the tender, a spokesman said: "We really have no view whatsoever. But we have set a reserve of 50,000 pounds per licence."
Ofcom plans to auction a series of new radio frequencies over the next two to three years that can be used for anything from television broadcasting to 3G mobile video and picture services.
It argues that well-organised auctions remain the best way to allocate spectrum to companies and organisations that value it the most highly and will ensure its optimal use.
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/050728/80/fodxk.html
LONDON (Reuters) - Ofcom is preparing to auction five to 10 low-power radio spectrum licences in a move that could lead to a host of low-cost, local mobile phone firms breaking into one of Europe's most competitive telecoms markets.
The telecoms and media regulator said on Thursday it planned to award the licences after one round of sealed bids and called for industry comments by September 16. Bidders would be able to buy only one licence and each licence would be tradable and last for at least 10 years.
The auction planned for later this year or in 2006 of the new licences, which will work over the 1781.7-1785 Megahertz and 1876.7-1880 MHz band, will be the first a series of planned spectrum tenders by 2008. And it has already sparked interest and enthusiasm from potential new entrants.
Martin Wren-Hilton, the founder and chief executive of start-up Coffee Telecom, said he hoped to offer mobile phone services at fixed-line prices in places such as coffee shops throughout the country.
"We will be offering low-cost mobile telephony in the UK in what we call 'coffee zones'," he told Reuters. "Locations could be either at work or in places such as (coffee chain) Costa Coffee, where you can make calls over the Coffee network and be charged at landline rates."
Wren-Hilton said his service, which he plans to launch in early 2006, should allow the country's 60 million mobile phone users to manually select the Coffee network on their handsets when they were within the network area to access cheap calls.
Ofcom has said other potential bidders could include those keen on offering services in university campuses or office buildings.
The world has changed since Britain pioneered European auctions of high-speed, third-generation mobile phone licences in 2000, which raised more than 100 billion euros (69 billion pounds) and helped fuel a precipitous drop in telecoms shares.
Asked how much the regulator hoped to raise by the tender, a spokesman said: "We really have no view whatsoever. But we have set a reserve of 50,000 pounds per licence."
Ofcom plans to auction a series of new radio frequencies over the next two to three years that can be used for anything from television broadcasting to 3G mobile video and picture services.
It argues that well-organised auctions remain the best way to allocate spectrum to companies and organisations that value it the most highly and will ensure its optimal use.
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/050728/80/fodxk.html