Posted by Kellie on 29 January 2012
New proposals emanating from Ofcom have not caused the kind of dissention that last year's plans regarding the 4G spectrum did. Then, Guy Laurence, serving as the CEO of Vodafone, characterised the proposals as tantamount to a handout of government resources to smaller mobile phone networks such as Three.
The new proposal lacks the caps and floors that were a major cause of upset last year among networks in the position of having to compete with Three and is "much further toward an open auction," according to a representative of one of Three's rival companies. Still, there is some possibility of legal action being taken over the new plans, which emphasise how important is it for the UK to have four mobile networks in competition for customers. To this end, Ofcom feels it is essential to make sure that at least four operators possess an adequate allocation of the 4G spectrum. While Ofcom did not specifically promise to protect Three, it made it clear that consumers will be the losers if there are not at least four competitors in the mobile broadband market. To this end, it plans to reserve some parts of the spectrum.
Matthew Howett of Ofcom explained "Reserving spectrum is controversial because you are putting something in the way of a market mechanism. But if you are to consider the duties of a regulator, it’s not to maximise the revenue to the exchequer, it’s to ensure a competitive landscape."