The results of the UK's first 5G auction are in, and O2 has snapped up all available licenses for operating in the 2.3GHz radio spectrum. O2's parent company spent £205,896,000 on securing the 2.3GHz licences which, as per the rules of the auction are "immediately usable", meaning they can be used for 4G services now as well as 5G services in the future. By contrast, portions of the 3.4GHz band, which were hoovered up by O2, EE, Vodafone and Three, can only be used for 5G, as and when that's ready. The fifth bidder, Airspan Spectrum Holdings, failed to secure any spectrum. Read next: Get the best broadband deals in your area Vodafone dropped £378,240,000 on 50MHz of the 3.4GHz band, one third of the available licenses, while O2 and EE both threw down for 40MHz, spending £317,720,000 and £302,592,000 each. Three spent the least (£151,296,000) and subsequently walked away with just 20MHz of the 3.4GHz band. While O2 is free to start making use of its 2.3GHz winnings now, it's unclear what its immediate plans are. The first 5G devices aren't expected to hit the market until 2019, but whether UK networks will be ready by then is another thing. Spectrum Is Capped: Future 5G auctions and who can bid for what In this auction, regulator Ofcom banned EE from bidding on any of the 2.3GHz licences; as it's already the UK's biggest network in terms of spectrum licences held. Ofcom has imposed caps on the amount of immediately usable spectrum a network can own (255MHz) as well as overall total on future spectrum (340MHz) The results of this auction sees EE inching closer to that ceiling, it now owns a total of 295MHz across various radio bands, which could leave it with less breathing room for future auctions. Between them the networks spent £1.35bn, a lot less than the £2.3bn they, along with BT, under its Niche Spectrum Ventures subsidiary, spent on 4G licences in 2013. There are still more bits of the airwaves to be flogged off - namely the 700MHz band, which is currently being used for digital terrestrial TV (Freeview, YouView, EE TV, etc) and unused parts of the higher 3.6GHz and 3.8GHz bands. The greater coverage over wider areas afforded by the latter, and the higher data rates afforded by the former, suggest that there's scope for Ofcom to beat 2013's disappointing auction results; then-Chancellor George Osborne had hoped to raise £3.5bn. Ofcom is also looking into a possible auction of parts of the 26GHz mmWave band, but no dates have been proposed so far.
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The results of the UK's first 5G auction are in, and O2 has snapped up all available licenses for operating in the 2.3GHz radio spectrum. O2's parent company spent £205,896,000 on securing the 2.3GHz licences which, as per the rules of the auction are "immediately usable", meaning they can be used for 4G services now as well as 5G services in the future. By contrast, portions of the 3.4GHz band, which were hoovered up by O2, EE, Vodafone and Three, can only be used for 5G, as and when that's ready. The fifth bidder, Airspan Spectrum Holdings, failed to secure any spectrum. Read next: Get the best broadband deals in your area Vodafone dropped £378,240,000 on 50MHz of the 3.4GHz band, one third of the available licenses, while O2 and EE both threw down for 40MHz, spending £317,720,000 and £302,592,000 each. Three spent the least (£151,296,000) and subsequently walked away with just 20MHz of the 3.4GHz band. While O2 is free to start making use of its 2.3GHz winnings now, it's unclear what its immediate plans are. The first 5G devices aren't expected to hit the market until 2019, but whether UK networks will be ready by then is another thing. Spectrum Is Capped: Future 5G auctions and who can bid for what In this auction, regulator Ofcom banned EE from bidding on any of the 2.3GHz licences; as it's already the UK's biggest network in terms of spectrum licences held. Ofcom has imposed caps on the amount of immediately usable spectrum a network can own (255MHz) as well as overall total on future spectrum (340MHz) The results of this auction sees EE inching closer to that ceiling, it now owns a total of 295MHz across various radio bands, which could leave it with less breathing room for future auctions. Between them the networks spent £1.35bn, a lot less than the £2.3bn they, along with BT, under its Niche Spectrum Ventures subsidiary, spent on 4G licences in 2013. There are still more bits of the airwaves to be flogged off - namely the 700MHz band, which is currently being used for digital terrestrial TV (Freeview, YouView, EE TV, etc) and unused parts of the higher 3.6GHz and 3.8GHz bands. The greater coverage over wider areas afforded by the latter, and the higher data rates afforded by the former, suggest that there's scope for Ofcom to beat 2013's disappointing auction results; then-Chancellor George Osborne had hoped to raise £3.5bn. Ofcom is also looking into a possible auction of parts of the 26GHz mmWave band, but no dates have been proposed so far.