Delayed spectrum auction could mean no 4G in the UK until 2014

While the US rollout of 4G LTE networks marches on, our British comrades continue to wait for the next-generation network to arrive. Operators are starting LTE testing on a very small scale — 200 people — but mass rollout isn’t expected until 2014, largely because an auction of the 800MHz and 2.6GHz spectrum that will likely be the basis for 4G LTE networks has seen repeated delays. The UK’s big cell operators can’t agree on standards for the auction or obligations for the winners, and there’s been plenty of accusations of favoritism among Vodafone, BT Wholesale, and the new Everything Everywhere behemoth. You might remember that the US 700MHz auction was similarly contentious, resulting in Verizon suing the FCC; Ofcom, the regulating organization for the UK communications industries, hopes to avoid similar conflict. Ofcom says the delayed auction — which is now tentatively scheduled to take place at the end of 2012 — won’t slow the rollout of 4G coverage, but color us skeptical for our friends in the UK.