Ofcom Website | 1781.7-1785 MHz paired with 1876.7-1880 MHz

Ofcom Website | 1781.7-1785 MHz paired with 1876.7-1880 MHz:

Ofcom have released details on when sealed bids can be delivered is Thursday 20 April between 10:00 and 17:30.

The final list of approved bidders is: -

British Telecommunications PLC
Cable & Wireless UK (England)
COLT Mobile Telecommunications Ltd
Cyberpress Ltd
FMS Solutions Ltd
Mapesbury Communications Ltd
02 (UK) Ltd
Opal Telecom Ltd
Orange Personal Communications Services Ltd
PLDT (UK) Ltd
Shyam Telecom UK Ltd
Spring Mobil AB
Teleware PLC
Zynetix Ltd

Which makes 14 bidders for between 7 and 12 licenses. It's very possible the bigger players will put big sums in for bids, but only say for 7 or 8 and maybe much lower bids for 12 licenses.

Ofcom have a duty to maximise the use of the spectrum, but also generate revenue for the government. If the big bidders do only put large bids in for small numbers of licenses, they're likely to kill of smaller bids for all 12.

The smaller players would likely utilise the spectrum in more innovative ways.