Old mobile spectrum to be freed

If Ofcom's proposals win support, the 900Mhz frequency will be available for three other operators to use and both chunks of spectrum will be allowed to support both second and third generation services.

Owners of the right to use these parts of the spectrum would also be able to trade these rights to other companies.

By lifting restrictions, Ofcom said that operators would be able to boost the data carrying capacities of their 3G networks for relatively little cash.

The emerging Femtocell industry may find these proposals somewhat disconcerting as the key application is to improve indoor coverage of 3G services. (The other benefit is to allow fixed-mobile substitution and carry data traffic over the fixed broadband network).