Ofcom had previously proposed to liberalize the 900MHz and 1800MHz bands for 3G services. However, these proposals were met with fierce opposition from some parts of the industry. The liberalization would have required taking spectrum from some operators to have it redistributed to others. Critics argue that these past proposals contributed to the country’s delay in starting its 4G auction, which finally got under way in January 2013.

   As for the new proposal to liberalize bands previously restricted to 2G and 3G technologies for 4G mobile services, Matthew Howett, telecoms regulation analyst at research firm Ovum believes that it will take years before all operators are able to deploy 4G services in these bands. “They would first need to be cleared of their existing use through a process of refarming that would probably take years rather than months, and so the spectrum that is currently being auctioned by Ofcom will most likely be used for Vodafone, O2 and Three’s initial deployment of 4G services,” he said.