Ofcom spectrum auction: Results finalised
October 24, 2025
By Colin Mann
UK comms regulator Ofcom has announced the final results of its mmWave spectrum auction, following completion of the remaining stages.
On October 16th, Ofcom announced the results of the Principal stage, which determined how much spectrum each of the three bidders – EE, O2 and VodafoneThree – had won, and how much they had committed to pay.
Each company won 800 MHz of spectrum in the 26 GHz band and 1 GHz of spectrum in the 40 GHz band and has paid £13 million (€14.9m). These fees will go to HM Treasury.
The auction then moved on to the Assignment stage, in which companies had the opportunity to bid for specific frequency positions, should they have a preference.
Bidders only have to pay for their final frequency locations if two or more bidders’ preferences overlap. This was not the case in this auction, so no bidders paid in the Assignment stage.
Assignment stage results
Following completion of the Assignment stage, Ofcom has granted licences to the three bidders for the following frequencies across the two bands:
- EE – 26.7-27.5 GHz and 41.5-42.5 GHz
- O2 – 25.1-25.9 GHz and 40.5-41.5 GHz
- VodafoneThree – 25.9-26.7 GHz and 42.5-43.5 GHz
The auction is now complete, and the winners are free to deploy the spectrum in accordance with the conditions of their licences.