17th Mar 2021 08:58
(Alliance News) - The UK telecommunications regulator on Wednesday announced BT Group PLC's mobile business EE Ltd has won 80 megahertz of 5G spectrum in an auction.
The FTSE 100-listed telecommunications firm said EE has secured new 700 megahertz and 3.6 to 3.8 gigahertz bands spectrum for GBP452 million.
Ofcom said in December that EE, CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd's Hutchison 3G UK Ltd, Telefonica UK Ltd, part of Telefonica SA, and Vodafone Ltd, part of Vodafone Group PLC, had qualified to take part in the spectrum auction and that they were established bidders as of January.
"EE has secured vital new spectrum in this auction which, when rolled out into the network, will allow us to grow our position as the UK's number one 5G network. EE was first to launch 4G and 5G, and this auction outcome is great news for our network, our customers and BT," said Marc Allera, chief executive of BT's Consumer brands, which includes EE.
Ofcom said on Wednesday that Vodafone won 40 megahertz in the 3.6 to 3.8 gigahertz band at a cost of GBP176.4 million. Hutchison 3G UK and Telefonica UK both won two lots of 10 megahertz of paired frequency spectrum in the 700 megahertz band at a cost of GBP280 million, while Telefonica also won 40 megahertz in the 3.6-3.8 gigahertz band for GBP168 million.
"With bidding in the principal stage concluded, we now move to the next stage of the auction where the operators will have an opportunity to negotiate the position of their spectrum holdings in the wider band. This is an important step forward in bringing better mobile services to people - wherever they live, work and travel. These airwaves will help improve coverage for the mobile services people use today, as well as supporting the UK's position as a world leader in 5G," said Philip Marnick, Ofcom group director of spectrum.
Shares in BT were up 4.2% at 149.15 pence and Vodafone up 1.4% at 136.36p in London on Wednesday. Shares in Telefonica were down 0.2% at EUR4.09 in Madrid. CK Hutchison closed down 1.0% at HKD62.05 in Hong Kong on Wednesday.
By Zoe Wickens; [email protected]
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