Radio agency set for May spectrum sale

The UK government will auction licences for the 3.4GHz spectrum in May this year, allowing companies to offer fixed wireless access services at speeds similar to ADSL.

The services are seen as crucial for bringing broadband to areas unable to connect to cable or wireless services.

Trials of fixed wireless broadband have already been run at the higher 28GHz spectrum, but these higher frequencies are more expensive.

The lower spectra of 3.4GHz and 5GHz make more commercial sense, although many companies want the government to go one step further and auction off the 2GHz spectrum for wireless broadband.

But the UK military uses this spectrum and, despite a consultation run by the Radiocommunications Agency (RA) last year, it is unlikely to free up the 2GHz spectrum for wireless services in the short term.

Each of the 15 licences up for grabs will cover one region of the UK, and companies interested in applying can do so from March.

No reserve price has yet been announced, but firms will be allowed to pay for the licences in stages and there will be no rollout obligations or service restrictions.

The RA will also be carrying out a consultation to explore the options for making spectrum at the 3.6GHz waveband available for broadband services.

It will consider whether the spectrum can be used, and how the licences could be made available.