UK spectrum auction to go ahead after legal challenge blocked (updated)

Hutchison Telecommunications Hong Kong Holdings

13/02/2018 18:33

(Adds Three statement) 
    LONDON, Feb 13 (Reuters) - British telecoms regulator Ofcom 
said on Tuesday it could proceed with the sale of new mobile 
airwaves after a London court denied operator Three permission 
to mount another legal challenge to the rules it had set for the 
auction. 
    Three, the smallest of Britain's four networks, and the 
biggest operator BT's  BT.L  EE had challenged the level of cap 
set by Ofcom on the amount any one operator can own, but both 
cases were rejected by the High Court in December.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1OK2CS 
    "The Court of Appeal has very firmly rejected Three's 
application for permission to appeal on all grounds," an Ofcom 
spokesman said. 
    "We welcome this decision, and will now press ahead with 
releasing these important airwaves. This new capacity will allow 
mobile companies to offer more reliable reception, and to 
prepare for future 5G services."  
    Three, which is owned by Hutchison Telecommunications, 
wanted the cap set at 30 percent rather than the 37 percent set 
by Ofcom. 
    A Three spokesman said the company was disappointed by the 
ruling, but added the decision to appeal was the right one. 
    "First of all this has not caused any delay to the delivery 
of 5G services to UK consumers which are not expected to rollout 
until 2019/20, according to Ofcom," he said.   
    "But more importantly, our appeal is about competition in 
the UK mobile market and spectrum distribution is the single 
biggest factor in maintaining a competitive market."  
    It said it still believed a cap set at 37 percent was too 
high if the objective was to have a competitive four player 
market and it would like to see it lower in the future. 
 
 (Reporting by Paul Sandle; editing by Stephen Addison and David 
Evans) 
 ((mailto:paul.sandle@thomsonreuters.com; +44 20 7542 6843; 
Reuters Messaging: 
rm://paul.sandle.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: BRITAIN MOBILE/SPECTRUM