UK's 4G mobile spectrum sale earmarked for the end of 2012

Telecoms reguator Ofcom has said that the sale of the UK's 4G spectrum band will be getting underway by the end of 2012.

Ofcom has unveiled plans for the auction of spectrum which will pave the way for the launch of 4G (fourth generation) mobile networks in the United Kingdom.

The telecoms regulator has now set itself a rough deadline for auctioning 4G spectrum in the U.K., saying the sale is "set to get underway by the end of 2012".

Once the auction takes place, operators are expected to establish 4G networks using the auctioned spectrum from the middle of 2013, and to start offering 4G services to consumers later that year.

The telecoms regulator also promised that 4G in indoor locations will reach 98 percent of people in "villages, towns and cities" across the U.K. by 2017.

In order to maintain a competitive market, Ofcom has said it will reserve some of the 4G spectrum band for a fourth national wholesaler, to ensure that another body other than the three largest mobile operators in the U.K. -- Everything Everywhere (the company behind the T-Mobile and Orange bands), Vodafone and Telefonica-owned O2 -- will get access to some of the spectrum.

There is a possibility the reserved spectrum may be auctioned to Hutchinson's 3 network, or it could be a new entrant altogether.