Last month the UK government set out its Mobile Spectrum Auction requirements in anticipation of bidding starting late in 2011. The auction is offering radio spectrum for  broadband frequencies within the 800MHz and 2.6GHz and will be auctioned by Ofcom.

The auction will be of great interest to 3G, Wi-Max and 4G players and may attract an unexpected competitor to battle for the radio spectrum. BT CEO Ian Livingstone was interviewed by the Wall Street Journal last week and he suggested that BT is considering entering the auction.

BT is believed to be interested in acquiring mainstrean  mobile broadband capability as it sees the opportunity to "cash in" on the ever increasing popularity of smartphones but would take a cautious approach to bidding in the auction it was revealed. BT already offers BT Mobile Broadband but this is not a mainstream cash earner for BT currently.

BT has an even higher priority than mobile broadband and this is the introduction of fibre optic broadband across the UK, which it now has established in over 1.5 million homes in the UK.