Britain proposes airwaves shake-up to meet broadband demand

Britain's telecoms regulator is proposing to change the way it will allocate the next batch of airwaves to be made available to mobile operators facing burgeoning demand for mobile data.

Telecoms operators have previously paid billions of pounds to secure long leases on the best chunks of airwaves, known as the real estate of the mobile industry, most recently in the 4G auction. But Ofcom Chief Executive Ed Richards said the industry would have to become more flexible on the terms of spectrum ownership to solve problems such as interference and the changing dynamics of the industry. That means operators could own specific parts of spectrum for shorter lengths of time as newer demands emerge, he said. But the flip side for consumers is that, with spectrum changing hands more often, products such as handsets and tablets would need to be updated and retuned, and could become obsolete faster.