Ofcom sells off more spectrum

Communications giants BT, Orange and T-Mobile are in the roll call of honours of those who've managed to get their hands on radio spectrum, following last week's fourth licence auction by industry watchdog Ofcom.

The spectrum on offer - 10 GHz to 40 GHz - is primed for high-capacity wireless services, and its sale generated almost £1.5 million from the interested parties combined.

T-Mobile dug into its pockets the deepest to shell out £321,000 for two 80 MHz licences in the 10 GHz band, two 252 MHz licences in the 32 GHz band and two 250 MHz licences in the 40 GHz band, while Orange splashed out £272,130 for two 252 MHz licences in the 32 GHz band and BT spent £183,000 on two 126 MHz licences in the 32 GHz band.

"The spectrum awarded is suitable for high-capacity broadband, for example, for organisations seeking to share wireless internet connections across buildings in close proximity and providing infrastructure for wireless networks," the communications regulator said in a statement accompanying the auction results.

"The spectrum has been released on a technology and service neutral basis, allowing these users the flexibility to decide what technology to use, what services to offer and to change their use of the spectrum over time. All licences issued are tradable."

The other seven companies who successfully purchased spectrum licences were Arqiva, Digiweb, Faultbasic, MLL, Red-M, Transfinite and UK Broadband. Full details of how many licences they bought and how much they paid can be found here.