3 UK to bid for airwave boost to its 3G services
Mobile-phone operator 3 UK is hoping to boost its services by buying a chunk of the radio airwaves about to be offloaded by rivals Vodafone and O2.
Experts say the inferior spectrum currently used by 3 UK means few of its 3G services work well indoors.
The spectrum Vodafone and O2 have is especially suitable for next-generation mobile broadband 3G services.
Regulator Ofcom is forcing Vodafone and O2 to give up some spectrum under plans for a new universal broadband service called Digital Britain.
3 UK and other operators like Orange believe that more spectrum should be made available to them.
Despite its reservations, it is understood 3 UK will compete in any auction for the freed-up spectrum, subject to its cash resources.
Final proposals for Digital Britain are expected to be published soon.
It promises high-speed broadband connections for everyone in Britain by 2012, but this is expected to cost billions.
In January, Lord Carter published his interim Digital Britain report, saying the new universal broadband service should operate at speeds of up to two megabits per second in order to deliver next-generation internet services, such as streamed video content from BBC iPlayer, at acceptable levels of speed and reliability.