Britons can expect 4G services within six months after five...

Spectrum Ventures (a British Telecom subsidiary), Telefónica UK and Vodafone all won spectrum, it said. The auction raised more than £2.3 billion ($3.6 billion). A total of 250 MHz was auctioned in the two bands, equivalent to two-thirds of the frequencies currently used by wireless devices, it said. The 800 MHz lots come with a coverage obligation, so winning bidder Telefónica UK will have to provide a mobile broadband service for indoor reception to at least 98 percent of the population (at least 99 percent outdoors) and at least 95 percent of the population of each of the U.K. nations -- England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales -- by the end of 2017, it said. Although the main part of the auction is over, there will be a final stage to determine where in the 800 MHz and 2.6 GHz bands each winner’s new spectrum will be located. Bidding in this assignment stage will take place shortly, Ofcom said. Once license fees have been paid, Ofcom will grant licenses and operators can begin rolling out their networks, with consumer services expected in the spring or early summer, it said. It will then measure the average mobile broadband speeds received by 3G and 4G customers and publish results next spring. Ofcom is now planning to support the release of more spectrum for possible future 5G services, it said. “Despite all the noise being made about the UK’s 4G auction, what you can’t hear is the sound of champagne corks popping over at the Treasury” as the amount raised was £1 billion less than expected, said Ovum analyst Matthew Howett. Mobile operators must be relieved that the amount paid is a “mere fraction” of the £22.5 billion they were asked to cough up during the 3G licensing process, he said. The fact that they paid so much less for 4G may be a good thing, because the relatively poor 3G coverage may be partly the result of operators having little money left to spend on building out networks, he said. Things should be different this time, especially given the ability of 800 MHz airwaves to cover large distances and penetrate buildings well, he said. The government, Ofcom and operators themselves deserve at least some of the blame for the U.K.’s late start in the 4G race, he said. But today is just the beginning, he said. The hard part now for operators is to convince customers to upgrade and take out 4G mobile subscriptions.