4G LTE Spectrum Auction Unlikely To Happen Until 2011

In a major setback to the companies keenly waiting for the Long Term Evolution (LTE), or 4G Technology as it is commonly called, an official independent spectrum broker has mentioned that the spectrum required for the technology is unlikely to be auctioned this year.

The proposed auction of the required 2.6GHz spectrum was initially planned for 2008, and was subsequently pushed for 2009 following a legal challenge from T-Mobile and O2. But, according to an independent spectrum broker Kim Peek, this would further be delayed till at last next year.

The delay has been attributed to a number of issues, including the re-use of the lower width spectrum band, as well as potential legal objections being posed by BT, ZDNet quoted Meek as saying.

He further cited the willingness of some providers to hold off the auction as the main reason, as this would give them the time to figure out whether they can offer 3G services on 900MHz band, which would in turn help them to decide the bid amount.

Meek told the website that the UK government “will have to take a view whether, in the dying months of this government, they will want to push through with this particular set of proposals.”