The rumours are now obsolete as the list of initial bidders has been published:

"Everything Everywhere, which has already been permitted to launch the UK's first 4G service using existing bandwidth and did so on 30 October

PCCW, a major Hong Kong conglomerate, operating through its subsidiary HKT UK

Hutchison Whampoa, another Hong Kong conglomerate and operator of the 3 network

MLL Telecom, a telecom network supplier founded in 1992 and based in Marlow, Buckinghamshire

BT, via its subsidiary "Niche Spectrum Ventures"

Telefonica, the Spanish incumbent telecoms company that owns the O2 network

Vodafone

[...]

The auction is due to start next month, with licences granted by March and services launching in May and June."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20794681

When EE purchases the new bands, will it give the iPhone 5 the whole of that old band to itself?

They couldn't afford to.

Was not far off when I had heard rumors of a Chinese firm getting involved, I had assumed it was China Mobile.


The iPhone 5 is not the only Phone that uses 1800 for LTE..

Virgin have fairly big pockets agreed not as big as say BT or Sky.

Let the bidding BEGIN!!

Disappointed virgin haven't put a bid in, guess they are quite happy being a mvno. I hope they get to use the ee lte some time soon, there was rumours they were talking to launch this year but that clearly won't be happening!

This will be an interesting auction. I wonder who will fight for the 800Mhz block with the coverage obligation?
Will EE go for it or are they more likely to go for the lesser blocks to compliment thier 1800 network?
Is it Vodafone who have the most dosh?
And who are PCCW and what's thier adgenda?
Too many questions....

PCCW are a Hong Kong Telecomms company ran by Richard Li who is son of Li Ka-shing, chairman of Hutchison Whampoa, owners of the Three network.

They are separate companies, it sounds like PCCW want into the wholesale side of providing backhaul services like BT, and therefore are likely to go for the 2.6Mhz spectrum.

Ah, I see. I've been trying to make sense of the rules and issues of bidding for two separate 1x10 800 blocks (without coverage obligation) rather than the 2x10 800 with.
Very complicated.
EDIT: Oops, I think it's 2x5Mhz actually..... Ok, ignore this post, I've confused myself even more now

It's pretty clear that BT are going to attempt to use 4G as part of their rural broadband rollout which I approve of.

Nope, but it would be very sensible for EE to let it have its own space.
Apple might already require that for some networks who can and wanting to have the iPhone 'LTE white listed' .

EE Could go for the 800 with coverage Obligation.. as they will pretty much will be bringing 4G to 98% of the UK by 2014 presumably using 1800.. That 800 obligation is the same by 2017 (indoor).

The crazy thing about that is outdoor reception of 4G from (at least) one network will be over 99% outdoors!!

Rubbish.. They only require certain obligations be met for the quality of the network, nothing to do with it getting priority.

And how will they meet those?

The phone certainly has a network black list only deactivated until Apple says OK.
They have been at discussion stalemate since September in at least one country.

So do we have sub standard networks now?

Must be a pretty low bar then if O2 managed to get exclusivity

You know, I think you're right. I think there will be one almighty scrap between Vodafone and EE for the 800 with coverage obligation.
As you say, EE will have LTE (2G rerfesh) kit in pretty much every cell by the end of 2014. I assume the antennas they are also replacing will do 800 as well? or do they have to be separate?
Do the cabs have to support a particular frequency or is it just the antennas? I'm guessing the radio amplifiers in the cabs have to but surely this new gear can cover a wide range of frequencies.
What I'm trying to say is that if the current upgraded kit supports it (and they have already accounted for the cost of that), then surely adding 800 to a particular cell would be very inexpensive.
This would mean EE could be very hard to beat in the auction because they have effectively already built (or are building) the physical network.
Did that make sense? Am I wrong?

Ooooooooh....... You didn't want to say that.
You tread a dangerous path my friend Hahahahaha!

There are only 4 Lots of spectrum on 800MHz and 7 companies potentially biding for it. Buy 1 Lot at 800MHz and there are on coverage obligations. Buy 2 Lots at 800MHz and there are coverage obligations. Im guessing that Vodafone, EE, O2 and 3 will buy one Lot of 800MHz each. I suspect the others are more interested in 2.6GHz.

99% is population.

It still don't work amongst the hills as many of us know well.
Area coverage is what people need to know.

If 3G population figures were produced I think there would be such a big difference between some operators and others.

Unless BT really wants their own mobile network I can't imagine them going for 800MHz. They can surely achieve what they need to do with 2.6GHz - fixed broadband where cells will need to be closer to houses anyway to provide enough capacity for home broadband. No problems with indoor coverage as I'd assume they are going to use outdoor equipment, properly installed.

One 5MHz block is really only equivalent to a single 3G carrier - running LTE on it would be slower than DC-HSPA so I'd be surprised if any operator would be happy to take it just to avoid the coverage requirements.

As far as i know the new 2G Refresh Antennas only support the higher frequencies 1800+

Cabinets can have the cards inside changed out for new radio equipment in simple terms.. No idea how they would roll out a 800Mhz Network. Maybe they are not planning to.

Thats where 2.6GHz will come in handy. There is much more spectrum in this part of the auction which is handy for urban coverage. 800MHz will be used for wider areas. Plus 700MHz will be up for sale in the not too disant future.

The MOD are also going to sell some of their spectrum for mobile data. It looks like the demand for bandwidth will be met from a variety of sources.

What's the deal with the UK's 700 Spectrum sale... i see this reported, NOWHERE!