UK wants to open 900MHz spectrum; Google "considering its move"
UK regulator Ofcom shook up the wireless market yesterday by announcing that it wanted to take some spectrum back from Vodafone and O2 in order to auction it off. The goal, as in the upcoming US spectrum auction, is to jumpstart competition and offer access to a prime, low-frequency band. That in itself is big news for the UK market, but you know what make this story even better? That's right, a dash of fresh-ground Google.
The Guardian is reporting that Google is already looking to bid in the newly-announced UK spectrum auction for some prime 900MHz licenses. That's either some seriously timely reporting or a load of bollocks, given that the auction plan isn't even finalized and was announced only yesterday. The fact that the news is utterly unsourced doesn't help, either, but this is Google, which means that no speculation is too wild to be printed.
Let's take a step back. Ofcom has taken a look at several licenses awarded to mobile operators in the 900MHz and 1800MHz bands. These licenses have been restricted only to 2G operations, and Ofcom wants to remove those restrictions and allow full 3G services.
As part of this "liberalisation," Ofcom also wants to see more competition for UK mobile services and also proposed that "some spectrum currently used by Vodafone and O2 for 2G services should be released for use by others in future." Should the plan come to fruition, Ofcom wants to auction off enough spectrum to allow three new companies to access the 900MHz band, the best one available due to its ability to penetrate walls and travel great distances.
Such an auction could be held in 2009. To give you a sense of how important low-frequency spectrum like 900MHz can be, Ofcom estimates that mobile operators could cover the entire UK with "10,000 fewer sites per operator." That could save plenty of dosh.
In an article this morning, the Guardian then announced that "Google is considering a move into the UK wireless market" because of the planned auction. It's certainly possible, though our own discussions with Google folks have led us to believe that the company has not yet made a final decision even about bidding in the January spectrum auction here in the US; any "considering" going on regarding the UK spectrum is likely to be at a primitive stage.
Still, that doesn't mean it won't happen. If the company does decide to pursue a strategy of using wireless spectrum to provide Internet access, the newly-available UK spectrum could be a tempting target. Keep an eye on the US auction for clues, though; should Google decide not to bid after all, a UK bid would look unlikely. If Google plunks down some cash here, though, anything's possible.
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