UK incumbent mobile operators bully Three, OFCOM.

The government's largest ever spectrum auction has been delayed, with the multibillion pound sell-off now expected in the second quarter of next year at the earliest.

The airwaves being sold as fourth generation (4G) licences will be reserved for mobile phone carriers, to help cater for the explosion in mobile broadband use.

Telecoms watchdog Ofcom had been expected to publish the terms of the auction this month, but after veiled threats of legal action from a number of carriers including O2, the document will not now be ready until November. This means the auction can no longer begin as planned in the first quarter of 2012.

An Ofcom spokesman said: "We are still aiming for the first half of next year. However, we have always maintained it is an ambitious timescale."

Continues: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2...uction-delayed