Wired News – Vodafone UK Secures 50 MHz of 3.4 GHz Spectrum in Ofcom’s 5G Spectrum Auction for £317.7 Million

Stock Monitor: Public Joint-Stock Company Mobile TeleSystems Post Earnings Reporting

LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / April 09, 2018 / Active-Investors.com has just released a free research report on Vodafone Group PLC (NASDAQ: VOD). If you want access to this report all you need to do is sign up now by clicking the following link www.active-investors.com/registration-sg/?symbol=VOD as the Company's latest news hit the wire. Vodafone emerged as one of the five companies which have won the principal stage spectrum auction for 4G mobile and future 5G services in UK, conducted by Ofcom. Ofcom's "principal stage" spectrum auction was completed on April 05, 2018. Ofcom has raised £1.36 billion (approximately $1.9 billion) from the auction. Register today and get access to over 1,000 Free Research Reports by joining our site below:

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Active-Investors.com is currently working on the research report for Public Joint-Stock Company Mobile TeleSystems (NYSE: MBT), which also belongs to the Technology sector as the Company Vodafone Group. Do not miss out and become a member today for free to access this upcoming report at:

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Active-Investors.com is focused on giving you timely information and the inside line on companies that matter to you. This morning, Vodafone Group most recent news is on our radar and our team decided to put out a fantastic report on the company that is now available for free below:

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Ofcom is UK's communications regulator, and it regulates the TV, radio, and video-on-demand sectors, fixed-line phones, mobiles and postal services as well as the airwaves over which wireless devices operate.

Ofcom's Spectrum Auction Details

Ofcom realized that the frequencies in the 2.3 and 3.4 GHz spectrum is needed by mobile network operators to provide additional capacity to meet growing consumer demand for mobile broadband. Ofcom decided to auction spectrum in two bands 2.3 GHz band for supporting existing 4G services and the 3.4 GHz band for supporting future 5G services.

Ofcom started the auction process with invitation for applications from bidders for the spectrum in January 2018 with February 08, 2018 being the last date for submitting the applications. Ofcom had cleared six companies in February 2018 to participate in the spectrum auction including Airspan Spectrum Holdings Ltd, EE Ltd, Connexin Ltd, Hutchison 3G UK Ltd, Telefónica UK Ltd, and Vodafone Ltd.

At the end of Ofcom's "principal stage" spectrum auction, the regulator revealed that Airspan did not win spectrum in either of the two bands, EE Ltd won 40 MHz of 3.4 GHz spectrum for £302.59 million, Hutchison 3G UK won 20 MHz of 3.4 GHz spectrum for £151.29 million, Telefónica UK won all the available spectrum in the 40 MHz of 2.3 GHz band for £205.89 million as well as 40 MHz of 3.4 GHz spectrum for £317.72 million, while Vodafone Ltd won 50 MHz of 3.4 GHz spectrum for £378.24 million.

Following the completion of the "principal stage" of auction, Ofcom will move to the next stage, i.e. "assignment stage", where the companies who won in the "principal stage" will bid for location of spectrum in the frequency of the bands won in the auction. On completion of the "assignment stage" Ofcom will issue licenses to the winning companies so that they can start using the relevant spectrum within a few days. Ofcom plans to publish the final results once the auction is completed.

Commenting on the completion of the "principal stage" of the auction, Philip Marnick, Spectrum Group Director at Ofcom, said:

"As a nation we're using ever more mobile data on smartphones and mobile devices. Releasing these airwaves will make it quicker and easier to get online on the move. It will also allow companies to prepare for 5G mobile, paving the way for a range of smart, connected devices."

Vodafone's Spectrum Acquisition

Vodafone acquired the largest of the 5G spectrum with 50 MHz in the 3.4 GHz band in the Ofcom auction. The Company paid a total of £378.2 million for this spectrum. The Company plans to utilize the 3.4 GHz spectrum band for launching its 5G mobile services. The new spectrum will enable Vodafone to provide Gigabit speeds and lower latency which will better support future 5G services for connected applications like autonomous vehicles and robotics, industrial automated systems, virtual and augmented reality, etc.

The spectrum is available for use by Vodafone for a period of twenty years with provision for converting to perpetual licenses in future.

About Vodafone Group PLC

Newbury, UK-based Vodafone Group is one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world. It offers a wide range of services including voice, messaging, data and fixed communications. The Group has mobile operations in 25 countries (including joint ventures and associates) and fixed broadband operations in 19 markets. In 49 countries the Group has partnership agreements with local mobile operators for providing its products and services. The Vodafone Group had 529.1 million mobile customers and 19.3 million fixed broadband customers as on December 31, 2017.

Stock Performance Snapshot

April 06, 2018 - At Friday's closing bell, Vodafone's stock marginally advanced 0.14%, ending the trading session at $28.82.

Volume traded for the day: 3.57 million shares.

Stock performance in the last month – up 0.66%; previous six-month period – up 2.27%; and past twelve-month period – up 10.51%

After last Friday's close, Vodafone's market cap was at $75.83 billion.

The stock has a dividend yield of 5.86%.

The stock is part of the Technology sector, categorized under the Wireless Communications industry.

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