The UK government has confirmed it will auction digital dividend spectrum within two years, and open up new spectrum for mobile services over the next decade.
Chancellor George Osborne revealed the sale of 800MHz and 2.6GHz spectrum will take place in 2011 or 2012, and that at least 500MHz of spectrum under 5GHz will be made available in the next ten years for mobile communications and broadband services.
Osborne announced the spectrum sales in a long-awaited spending review that slashed £83 billion ($132b) from government outlays.
Despite wielding the axe, Osborne largely backed technology industries.
He pledged £530 million to encourage rollout of superfast broadband, unveiling four pilot schemes as he seeks to “encourage the growth of our creative industries as a key part of the new economy we are seeking to build,” the BBCreported.
The bulk of the cash - £300 million – would come from the BBC’s license fee, with the remainder covered by digital switchover funds, it said.
Investment in cyber attack defenses will total £650 million over the next five years, with a focus on building security into critical infrastructure and improving attack detection.
Intelligence chiefs last week warned the UK’s networks were under a credible threat of cyber attack.