U.K. and Ofcom Support Proposal to Sell Unused Broadcast Spectrum

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 27, 2006 - 11:50am.

London - The U.K. government and Ofcom, the U.K. telecommunications watchdog, have both endorsed a plan to allow parts of unwanted or unused spectrum to be auctioned in order to raise funds for the government. "The government agrees with the audit that there is scope for more effective use of public sector spectrum through the introduction of spectrum trading and increased sharing with other users, and will work with Ofcom to enable this," the U.K. government said. The government insisted that it would ensure that enough spectrum is available for national security, defense and public services. The U.S. government hopes to raise billions of dollars when it auctions off spectrum freed by the transition to digital television broadcasting, now scheduled to take place on Feb. 17, 2009.
http://www.spectrumaudit.org.uk/220306.htm