Ministry of Defence (Photo credit: pixelhut)
The Ministry of
Defence confirmed it would be releasing around 200MHz of frequencies between 2.3 and 2.4GHz, and between 3.4 and 3.6GHz, to be sold at auction to
private companies.
Although the auction isn't due to take
place until 2014, it will put a smile on the faces of mobile operators which
will still be looking to extend their coverage after building their 4G networks
- made possible by the Ofcom auction due to start in a couple of weeks.
What pleased me specifically though was the
sensible approach to the auction the MoD is taking. When I pressed a spokesman
earlier for a figure on how much the auction will make for the government, he said,
as an auction process, you couldn't predict how much it would bring in.
That is very true. Now, what the MoD needs to
do is drop a quick call to the Treasury and tell the Chancellor of the
Exchequer that.
If you remember, a couple of week ago in
his Autumn Statement, George Osborne predicted the upcoming Ofcom auction would
bring in £3.5bn and
conseuently used it to boost his interim budget figures, despite the bidding
process not even having taken place.
I had my say about it then, so only thought
when a government department was doing things correctly, I should say so. Well
done MoD. Now, don't be dragged down to Osborne's level and start plucking
figures out of the air anytime soon, ok?
Subscribe to blog feed
Leave a comment