British telecom regulator Ofcom today said it will delay the spectrum auction for selling the 2.3 and 3.4 GHz bands for UK telecoms.
Ofcom says it will wait for the response from the European Commission on the proposed merger between Telefonica UK and Hutchison 3G UK. Ofcom will also wait for the final decision from the Competition and Markets Authority on the proposed merger of BT Group and EE.
Earlier, Ofcom was planning to kick off the spectrum auction process during December 2015.
After sharing the provisional findings on the proposed merger between BT Group and EE, the Competition and Markets Authority will give the final response in January 2016. The provisional response was in favor of BT Group and EE.
The European Commission, which launched an in-depth investigation into the merger between Telefonica UK and Hutchison 3G UK, is expected to share its response no later than mid-May 2016.
Both Telefonica UK and Hutchison 3G UK want Ofcom to delay the spectrum auction till they receive the response from the European Commission.
In November 2015, Telefenica UK and Hutchison 3G UK approached Ofcom to wait for the result from the EC.
editor@telecomlead.com
