UK BWFA auction under the DTI spotlight

NEWS Announcing the winning eight companies this afternoon, ecommerce minister Patricia Hewitt said she wanted the report to "help us plan for future spectrum allocations" The sale of the 28GHz broadband fixed wireless access (BFWA) licences raised only £38.16m, well below even the lowest expectations of their value. Values of up to £1bn had been talked about before the auction started ten days ago. Only 16 of the 42 national licences available being awarded, in 14 regions, covering 60 per cent of the population. Further spectrum licences will be offered next year. Many parts of the country, such as Wales, the West Country and even Cambridge and Suffolk were not bid for. Among the big winners was Energis Local Access who won six licences, spending a total of £13.7m. The highest price it paid was £4.8m in London, with £160,000 in Northern Ireland. "We are very content at the size of the bids in the auction," said an Energis spokesman. "We had never valued the licences at the value put on them by the RadioCommunications Agency," he added. Energis say that now the licences are to be awarded they will be able to talk to suppliers and expect to have the services starting in about a year's time. The industry has been hit by a lack of confidence and the cost of entry to the market has put off a lot potential bidders at a time when money for technology is proving hard to raise. By Geoffrey Davies