U.K. Spectrum Sale Should Not Dictate Market Size, Vodafone Says

U.K. regulators must avoid determining the number of mobile-phone operators in the country before a frequency auction that may raise as much as 2.6 billion pounds ($4.3 billion), said Vodafone Group Plc’s public policy director.

Ofcom wants to maintain at least four national carriers and would impose limits on the minimum and maximum amounts of frequencies set to go on sale in the first quarter of 2012 to ensure competition. The industry should decide the size of the market in the long run, Richard Feasey said.