3UK CEO confident UK's 4G spectrum auction will go ahead in 2012

David Dyson, the recently appointed chief executive of the U.K.'s smallest mobile network operator, 3, is quietly confident the nation's single biggest auction of mobile spectrum will take place next year, amid opposition to regulator Ofcom's proposed auction rules.

"I believe the auction will go ahead next year," Dyson told reporters at his first media briefing since taking over from Kevin Russell in July.

However, Russell expects Ofcom's timetable on when it will publish the terms of the fourth-generation mobile-spectrum auction to slip to the end of 2011 or early next year from September/October due to opposition from U.K. mobile network operators, including Telefonica SA's U.K. business.

Ofcom's original plan to hold the auction in the first quarter of 2012 was recently pushed backed by a few months to some time in the first half of next year.

"Ofcom has been very explicit in its aim to begin the 4G auction as soon as is practicable and this remains our objective," a spokesman for the regulator said Tuesday.

In June, Telefonica's U.K. arm, which trades under the O2 brand, objected to Ofcom's proposed rules, which includes limits on how much each mobile operator can buy to ensure that at least four wholesale operators remain in the country.

The 4G mobile-spectrum auction is equivalent to three-quarters of the mobile spectrum in use at present, and 80% more than the 3G auction that was held in 2000, according to Ofcom.Dyson also announced a new GBP18-a-month all-you-can-consume data tariff on a 24-month contract, which will be available from Oct. 7, aimed at data-hungry consumers with smartphones.

The company currently offers a GBP25-a-month all-you-can-consume data tariff and GBP15 on pay-as-you go 3, which is owned by Hong Kong's Hutchison Whampoa Ltd., is hoping to double its customer base from around 5 million to 10 million in four years, driven by its data offering, Dyson said.

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