Introduction

Spectrum used in most modernised commercial deployments by mobile network operators in the United Kingdom. Downlink spectrum shown except in the case of TDD.

700MHz (Band 28) FDD

On 27/04/21, Ofcom released details of the completed spectrum auction process. 700MHz paired allocations are as follows: EE UL 723-733MHz, EE DL 778-788MHz, Three UL 713-723MHz, Three DL 768-778MHz and O2 UL 703-713MHz, O2 DL 758-768MHz. EE was the first to launch the spectrum commercially, using it as NR only with NRARFCN 156510. Three were then next, launching theirs as LTE with EARFCN 9360. Finally, O2 launched their spectrum as 5G, NRARFCN 152210 in Ericsson and 152690 in Nokia. O2 then started to use 700MHz as 4G in some areas, EARFCN 9260. Three has a site with DSS 700MHz in Manchester, NRARFCN 154570.

700MHz (SDL) FDD

Only EE acquired 700MHz SDL during the auction, gaining 20MHz.

800MHz (Band 20) FDD

All four mobile network operators have spectrum in the 800MHz band: Three with 5MHz paired at EARFCN 6175, EE 5MHz paired EARFCN 6225, Vodafone 10MHz paired EARFCN 6300, O2 10MHz paired EARFCN 6400.

900MHz (Band 8) FDD

900MHz spectrum is only possessed by Vodafone and O2 but is rather complex. Block 1 (925.1-930.1): Vodafone's main 900MHz 3G carrier UARFCN 2938, sometimes with GSM in range. Block 2 (930.1-935.1): O2's primary 900MHz 3G carrier of UARFCN 2963, sometimes with GSM in range. Block 3 (935.1-947.5) has a range of possible options. The most recent, most modern, is GSM in the base 2.4MHz followed by various possible uses, typically either UMTS 3012 or LTE 3624/5 10MHz +/- DSS SA 5G. Final block (947.5-959.9) also can vary significantly, such as having O2's second 3G carrier UARFCN 3050 or 4G EARFCN 3725 (10MHz) with rest O2 2G.

1500MHz (Band 32) Supplementary Downlink

This spectrum is downlink only and therefore must be paired with another band, such as Band 20, for uplink. Vodafone and 3 both have 20MHz with EARFCNs 10020 and 10220 respectively. 3 has this spectrum deployed on multiple sites in Oxford, while Vodafone has it on on their Atlas and Smale offices.

1800MHz (Band 3) FDD

EE is the big holder of 1800MHz spectrum with 45MHz paired. 5MHz paired is used for GSM. 40MHz paired has more modern usage, up to 40MHz paired 4G (DL EARFCNs 1617 and 1815) or 30MHz paired 4G and 10MHz paired 5G, as illustrated above. Three is the next largest at 15MHz paired, EARFCN 1392, meanwhile Vodafone and O2 each have 5.8MHz paired. Vodafone uses EARFCNs 1288, while O2 uses a few: 1226 for Macro sites generally and 1228 for microcells and small cells but 1229 and 1230 have also been seen. While EE and 3 use 1800MHz as a core 4G layer, O2, and especially Vodafone, have it deployed solely in high load locations as a capacity add.

2100MHz (Band 1) FDD

Originally used for 3G services, the 2100MHz band is rapidly being refarmed in the UK for 4G and more recently 5G (+/- via DSS) services.

2300MHz (Band 40) TDD

O2 owns all of the allocated spectrum in this band and currently uses 40MHz of it for EARFCN 39250 and 39448.

2600MHz (Band 7 [FDD] and Band 38 [TDD])

Vodafone deploys 20MHz of TDD, predominantly with Massive MIMO, EARFCN 37900. They also have 20MHz paired FDD of EARFCN 2850, which is used as a widespread urban capacity add, usually with 4T4R on busy sites. EE, through BT, owns 50MHz of FDD 2600MHz. 35MHz is used ubiquitously for two macro carriers: EARFCN 3350 is the primary carrier of 20MHz and 3179 is the secondary at 15MHz. The 'BT' spectrum is used for small cells with EARFCN 3026 or for a third macro carrier EARFCN 3029, or, more recently, NR carrier. 2595MHz-2620MHz was traded to O2 in November 2020 and 15MHz or 20MHz of it is used for O2 B38, EARFCN 38125 or 38100 respectively, 38100 illustrated above.

C-Band TDD

3410-3800MHz is allocated in this band. The upper diagram shows the spectrum laid out as per current licenses while the lower shows what would result from a proposed trade. Currently Three operates up to 140MHz of NR across their two blocks while EE increasingly has two 40MHz blocks in use. Vodafone typically has 50MHz in use and O2 40MHz. A trial site was noted where O2 were operating in the post proposed trade configuration with 80MHz bandwidth.