A prominent Labour party member has blamed the Government for delays regarding the auctioning of 4G mobile spectrum bandwidth, arguing that as a result, the UK economy is losing in excess of one million pounds every day. The Shadow Minister for Media, Helen Goodman, believes that the Government is not pressuring telecoms industry regulator Ofcom to finalise conditions of the auction process enough. She also alleges the ongoing delays have already cost the economy millions of pounds and the figure is only set to increase until the auction takes place.
The 4G auction is expected to raise between two and four billion pounds for the Government, with an added three-hundred million pounds per year in licensing fees. Following consultation with mobile network operators, Ofcom is set to finalise the conditions the auction will take place under and announce a date for it to take place later in the year. This means that 4G services will not be available until the final quarter of 2013, at the earliest, with some industry commentators fearing networks may not be operational before 2015.
“The auction could have taken place in 2010 but this government decided not to give Ofcom the backup to go ahead with the sale of 4G. Consumers need better mobile coverage, particularly in rural areas, and it is disappointing that it has taken the government 18 months to get on with the auction.” Goodman said.
She added: “At a time of deep cuts to the public sector, the government is in effect losing almost £1m in revenue a day. We will be one of the last major countries in Europe to get 4G coverage, which is shameful because Britain is one of the largest producers of mobile phone technology in the world.”
The possibility of auctioning off bandwidth on the 4G spectrum was investigated in 2009, but the standards for 4G had not been finalised then. Ofcom has since blamed issues getting the UK aligned with European networks and the slow rate the digital TV switchover has taken place at for delays arranging the auction.