Want to buy a wireless network?

There is an upcoming auction of the so-called fourth generation, or 4G, spectrum. The last time Ofcom held an auction, for 3G in 2000, it raised a record £22.5bn for the UK Treasury – well before the rise of smartphones that are now so prevalent. The auctions due to happen in 2012.

The additional spectrum to be sold off should mean faster speeds for downloading data to phones. Ofcom says the auction is equivalent to three quarters of the mobile spectrum in use today. The actual parts of the spectrum being sold – at the 800MHz and 2.6GHz bandwidths – will be parts of the wireless spectrum historically used by analogue TV, which is being switched off as digital is rolled out.

Cheques books at the ready then!

Note to Matt – I have 90p in my piggy bank, should we club together and buy it?

Posted by: Gareth