Britain's smallest mobile network operator, Three, wants the regulator to rein in market leader EE (BT.L) by setting a 30 percent cap on the proportion of airwaves an operator can own.
Britain's smallest mobile network operator, Three, wants the regulator to rein in market leader EE (BT.L) by setting a 30 percent cap on the proportion of airwaves an operator can own.
Such a move would boost competition in a market that delivers "mediocre" service to customers, it said on Tuesday.
The operator, owned by Hong Kong's CK Hutchison Holdings (0001.HK), said it needed more spectrum to grow its customer base and offer bigger bundles of data, a strategy it is pursuing after its merger with Telefonica's (TEF.MC) O2 was blocked by EU regulators in May.
EE (BT.L), owned by BT, has 42 percent of the spectrum currently available, while Vodafone (VOD.L) has 29 percent and O2 and Three have 14 percent and 15 percent respectively, Three said.
British competition authorities waved through BT's acquisition of EE in January without making BT sell any of its combined spectrum, to the surprise of some in the industry.
Three UK's Chief Executive David Dyson said he wanted regulator Ofcom to impose the 30 percent cap at the next auction, expected next year, as it would provide better balance in a market with four operators.
"All operators other than EE-BT are below that 30 percent cap right now," he told reporters on Tuesday. EE should not be precluded from bidding, he said, but it should be required to sell some of its existing portfolio if it wanted to buy new spectrum.