Seven bidders confirmed in UK 4G auction

Seven bidders are taking part in the auction of radio waves for fourth-generation UK mobile telephone services that will markedly accelerate download speeds on the move, while also buttressing the UK’s finances. Ofcom, the UK telecoms regulator, confirmed that the UK’s four mobile operators – which trade as O², Vodafone, EE and Three – had all paid £100,000 to be part of the forthcoming 4G mobile spectrum auction. It said three other parties were also bidding: the UK’s BT; Hong Kong’s PCCW; and MLL Telecom, a provider of managed telecoms networks. Bidders will be competing for two different bands of spectrum, one at the lower-frequency 800MHz and the other at the higher frequency 2.6GHz.