But companies wanting to bid will have to turn up to Ofcom’s HQ, on the south bank of the Thames in central London (pictured), to declare their intention to take part.
Ofcom, the UK regulator, said this morning that it will call a formal start to the auction for 700MHz and 3.6-3.8GHz spectrum in late November 2020, “with a view to starting bidding in mid-January”.
But it recognises that bidders might be affected by the pandemic and proposes a number of steps if that should be the case. However, that relaxation is for the bidding process only, not for the start, when it will require a human being to deliver documents to the office.
One of the biggest challenges is that Ofcom normally wants bidders to turn up in person to state their intention to take part – via sealed envelope. Intending bidders must deposit £100,000 into Ofcom’s bank account.
“The application should be brought to Ofcom’s reception desk at Riverside House. All representatives will be asked for photographic ID as proof of identity. The applicant’s representative will then be accompanied to a room where the application will be received formally. Representatives will be expected to adhere to any Government guidelines on Covid-19 applicable at the time.”
There is no change to that process. But bidding will take place via an electronic auction system, but Ofcom appears not to be offering an electronic means of starting the process.
During the auction itself – which might last a week or more – it is prepared to be flexible.
It says: “If a bidder is affected by such circumstances, it should inform the Ofcom auction team at the earliest possible opportunity. Ofcom will likely ask that bidder to provide written confirmation of its particular circumstances, which should be approved by an authorised member of the bidder group.”
If a pause of more than a day is needed, it will ask for more information “to inform our decision on how to proceed”.
