BT Group PLC’s (LON:BT.A) mobile arm EE paid the most for its chunk of bandwidth in the first stage of the UK’s 5G auction, with the government raising £1.36bn from the sale.
EE is paying £452mln principally for positions in the 700MHz and 3.6-3.8MHz band, where it was allocated a third (33%) of the bandwidth on offer in both cases.
Along with the other major mobile groups, EE was only allowed to bid for a maximum of 37% of the spectrum on offer in the main categories.
Hutchison 3G UK (Three) and Telefonica UK (O2) were awarded the same amount as BT in the 700MHz band at the same price of £280mln each.
Telefonica also secured 40 MHz in the 3.6-3.8 GHz band for a further £168mln while Vodafone PLC (LON:VOD) was awarded 40 MHz in this band at a cost of £176.4mln.
The next phase of the auction is the assignment stage, where mobile operators bid in a single-stage auction for the positions they want in the spectrum awarded today.
Following that stage, they work out sharing/renting deals to provide the best coverage for their respective networks.
BT added that the low band 700MHz spectrum is widely seen as crucial for reach and indoor coverage, providing a wider and better customer experience.
Mid-range 3.6GHz spectrum will help deliver greater capacity and speed, both vital elements for the growing use cases associated with 5G technologies it added.
Marc Allera, chief executive of BT Consumer said: "EE has secured vital new spectrum in this auction which, when rolled out into the network, will allow us to grow our position as the UK's number one 5G network."
Philip Marnick, Group Director, Spectrum at UK telecoms regulator Ofcom, added: “With bidding in the principal stage concluded, we now move to the next stage of the auction where the operators will have an opportunity to negotiate the position of their spectrum holdings in the wider band.”