Dave Dyson, CEO of Three UK, has said the 4G spectrum auction process “puts competition at risk”, by giving Everything Everywhere a head start – but EE has argued Ofcom’s decision is only fair.
Dyson refused to rule out legal action over Everything Everywhere’s application to use its existing 3G spectrum to roll out 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) services, but said that Three would wait for Ofcom’s response before considering its next move.
Speaking at the Westminster eForum, Dyson was adamant that just because Everything Everywhere, formed by a merger between Orange and T-Mobile, had excess spectrum, it shouldn’t be allowed to use it before other networks were able to set up 4G networks. He claimed that any EE 4G service would only appeal to a niche market, but would be a valuable marketing tool for EE, the UK network which has the most subscribers.
Dyson said it was “interesting” that Vodafone appeared to be disgruntled by the decision, despite the fact that it had “gladly” accepted liberalisation of the 2G network – allowing Vodafone to offer 3G without paying any further premiums. He did concede “at least we’re not the lone voice.”
The liberation of 2G spectrum had caused a “distortion of the competitive landscape” and operators which have access to the highly-coveted low frequencies, such as the 900 MHz spectrum, held an unfair advantage, said Dyson.
O2 and Vodafone own such spectrum, valued by operators because it can travel further and deeper into buildings. While other countries have reallocated spectrum to restore the balance amongst their operators, the UK has not done so, with Ofcom claiming that the technical advantages of these frequencies are not clear.
“My clear request to Ofcom is to reconsider their analysis on low frequency spectrum,” said Dyson, adding that a conclusion to the contrary would be irrational and put competition at risk.
Everything Everywhere advisor Kip Meek said that it would be unfair of Ofcom to prevent EE offering 4G services, since the operator was already required to dispose of one quarter of its 1800 MHz spectrum to receive EC approval – spectrum which Dyson admitted Three was interested in.
It would be “inappropriate” for a regulator to engineer the market in such a way, said Meek, and “inappropriate to deny consumers the benefits of 1800MHz LTE when we’re already behind Europe and the rest of the world.”
How much do you know about smartphones? Take our quiz
Elon Musk dismisses two senior Tesla executives, plus the entire division that runs Tesla's Supercharger…
Eight newspaper publishers in the US allege Microsoft and OpenAI used their millions of their…
US judge sentences Binance founder, Changpeng Zhao, to four months in prison for ignoring money…
Rights group argues ChatGPT tendency to generate false information on individuals violates GDPR data protection…
European Commission says Apple's iPadOS is 'gatekeeper' due to large number of businesses 'locked in'…
As the cloud continues to be an essential asset for all businesses, developing and maintaining…
View Comments
Ofcom has no idea about competition, and this is shown time and time again. They can't understand competition requires a fair and level playing field.
This is speaking as a consumer who suffers from the poor decisions of Ofcom, from radio mikes,3G/4G and postal services - we end up with a poorer service and higher prices.
Ofcom is an organization unfit for purpose.