Qualcomm wins L-Band spectrum auction

Pays £8,334,000 for a chunk of UK bandwidth

16 May 2008 11:28 GMT / By Amy-Mae Elliott

Qualcomm has announced that it has acquired 40MHz (1452-1492MHz) of L-Band radio spectrum in the recent Ofcom auction, at a cost of £8,334,000.

The company says this acquisition will allow Qualcomm, in collaboration with its partners, to bring a "variety of innovative wireless technologies to the UK market".

Although no plans are being revealed at this early stage, this chunk of spectrum is "technology neutral" and would be suitable for such service as mobile television, wireless broadband and satellite radio.

“Winning this license creates an opportunity for Qualcomm to explore emerging business models and advanced mobile technologies”, said John Caterer, managing director, UK, Qualcomm Europe, Inc.

“If we can help the market to harness this potential, we will see additional opportunities for service providers using a variety of technologies. This will ultimately benefit consumers, offering them high quality services and a range of creative applications.”

Other bidders included Arqiva Limited, Vectone Network Limited, MLL Telecom Ltd and The Joint Radio Company.