UK 3G auctions postponed for another year
A new 3G auction expected to raise £2 billion has been postponed by the regulator after a series of complaints from mobile companies claiming that it was premature and badly thought out.
Ofcom has caved into demands from telecoms and media companies and pushed back the airwaves sell-off into 2008. It had been planned for this year.
Mobile companies complaining that it was ‘premature and badly thought out’? Or was it because they bid silly amounts for the licenses and are now struggling to figure out how to make the cash back?
Mobile operators, which are still smarting at the hugely inflated prices they previously paid for 3G licences, complained that this year was much too early for a second auction. The technology, they pointed out, was fraught with pitfalls initially and slow to take off.
‘Fraught with pitfalls initially’. Hmm. Another excuse? The article touches on the possible real reason:
The delay over the auction, which is expected to raise a tenth of the £22.5 billion raised first time around, comes after sustained criticism about the process and Ofcom’s handling of it.
If I’d contributed part of that £22.5 billion a few years back, only to find that my competitors can now get into the game for a lot less, I’d be a little annoyed. Still, it’s only a year longer to wait. There’ve been many suggestions on how the UK mobile operators can improve their customer satisfaction and service take-up. The clock is ticking, but will they listen?
