U.K. telecom regulator Ofcom yesterday announced the design of the auction for awarding licenses for millimeter wave (mmWave) spectrum. In September, the agency confirmed that the 26 GHz and 40 GHz spectrum bands would be opened to mobile technology, including 5G services.
Spectrum will be auctioned in three tranches: 26 GHz lower (25.1-26.5 GHz); 26 GHz upper (26.5-27.5 GHz); and 40 GHz (40.5-43.5 GHz). Each lot will comprise a block of 200 MHz. Reserve prices will be $2.4 million for each lot of 26 GHz lower and 26 GHz upper, and $1.2 million for each lot of 40 GHz.
The auction will be run in two stages. The principal stage – a clock auction – will decide the quantity of spectrum each bidder will be allocated. This will be followed by an assignment stage which will decide the precise frequencies allocated to each winner.
The U.K. is behind the U.S. in this area. In 2020, the FCC concluded an auction of 3,400 MHz of mmWave spectrum in the Upper 37 GHz, 39 GHz, and 47 GHz bands. The auction had a total of $7.5 billion in net bids, spread across 28 bidders. In 2019, licenses were auctioned in the 24 GHz band, and the 28 GHz band was auctioned before that.
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