The boss of one of Britain’s leading mobile operators has rejected calls for the company to abandon a threat to mount a legal challenge to Ofcom, the industry regulator, over a key auction of spectrum rights.
Dave Dyson, chief executive of Three UK, owned by the Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-Shing, had urged Ofcom to introduce a 30 per cent cap on the amount of spectrum a single mobile phone company can own in the UK.
Last month Ofcom rejected that proposal, arguing that a higher cap of 37 per cent would be sufficient to maintain balance in the UK market and ensure proper competition.
The decision will allow BT and Vodafone, the industry’s dominant players, to participate in a forthcoming auction of new airwaves, potentially shaping the future of the UK mobile market for years to come. Three and O2 are also expected to bid.
Three has already threatened to launch a legal challenge to overturn Ofcom’s decision. It argues that BT and Vodafone already control too much spectrum and are therefore able to restrict competititon in the sector.
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Speaking as Three UK, which announced a 2 per cent fall in earnings yesterday to £341 million during the first half of the year, Mr Dyson rebuffed claims that a legal challenge would delay the rollout of next generation 5G mobile services in the UK.
He said: “We have not yet made a decision to make any legal claim. Our view is that if we were to go down that path the legal process would take about three months . . . There wouldn’t be any rollout of 5G before 2020 . . . So if there is concern it’s probably mis-placed.”
Three said revenues rose 10 per cent to £1.16 billion while its UK subscriber base grew 9 per cent to 9.9 million.
• Nearly 80 per cent of adults have accessed internet “on the go” using smartphones this year, more than double the 2011 rate of 36 per cent. The Office of National Statistics said 78 per cent went on to the web away from their home or office, although there were big differences according to age. About 98 per cent of those aged 16-24 accessed the internet on the go compared with only 39 per cent of those aged 65 or older.