There have already been a couple of 5G spectrum auctions in the UK and another is set to take place soon, with the bidders for this third 5G spectrum auction having now been confirmed by Ofcom.
In news that will probably surprise no-one, the confirmed bidders are EE, O2, and VodafoneThree – so thanks to Vodafone and Three merging there will only be three bidders this time around, rather than the four we previously had.
This time it’s 26GHz (25.1-27.5GHz) and 40GHz (40.5-43.5GHz) spectrum that’s being auctioned off, which in both cases is far higher frequency than any of the bands 5G networks are using so far. Right now, the UK networks use bands of between 700MHz and 3.8GHz for their services, with most 5G signals being sent over the higher end bands.
The 26GHz – and even more so 40GHz – bands offer greater capacity and should allow for far higher speeds than we’ve seen so far, but being so high frequency they’re also much shorter range, and are worse at passing through obstacles like the walls of buildings.
Selectively applied
As such, they’re more limited in where and how they can be effectively used, which is why the auction will make this spectrum available specifically across 68 “high-density” areas – meaning places like cities and airports, where there are a lot of people in a relatively small space.
That’s where this sort of spectrum can excel – providing enhanced capacity where it’s needed most, across smaller areas. So while this spectrum will be selectively used, it should be a great complement to the 5G spectrum that the UK’s networks already have access to.
As for the auction itself, there’s no confirmed start date yet, but it’s expected to begin before the end of October, and Ofcom will be auctioning this spectrum in 200MHz lots with 15-year licences, and with a reserve price of £2m per 26GHz lot and £1m per 40GHz lot.
Note however that the results of the auction probably won’t be known until at least November, and the spectrum likely won’t be used in 5G networks until a while later still, as infrastructure may need to be adapted to support it. Plus, not all phones and other consumer devices will necessarily support spectrum of this high frequency yet, so you might even need to buy a new handset to fully take advantage of it.
