BT among seven bidders to enter 4G auction The telecoms giant will be vying with Britain's "Big Four" mobile operators - Vodafone, EE, and the owners of O2 and Three - to secure the valuable airwaves, which are needed to deliver superfast fourth generation mobile services. There were also two surprise entrants on the list: Britain's MLL Telecom, and Hong Kong's PCCW, both of which sell communications networks to businesses and other organisations. The auction will play a major role in determining the pecking order of Britain's mobile businesses over the next decade, although not all of the bidders are chasing the airwaves in order to roll out mobile telephone services. Instead, BT, MLL and PCCW are thought to be eyeing tranches of low-frequency airwaves which they can use to deliver speedy 4G wi-fi internet services in certain, localised areas. Analysts said they would be likely to offer the faster wi-fi to multinationals and companies on business parks, rather than making it generally available, to help boost their so-called "enterprise" operations serving business customers. There is nothing to stop them offering it to consumers as well, but it would have to be on a very local level. There is not enough [low-frequency spectrum, or airwaves] in the auction to offer them across the whole country," said Matthew Howeet, a telecoms analyst at Ovum. Although BT is the best placed of the three surprise bidders to launch a full-blown mobile network, it is very unlikely to do so, he added. It would be a massive shock if any of these three attempted to bid for one of the big chunks [of airwaves needed for 4G mobile]. They would have to acquire a significant amount because they don't have any as a starting point. The telecoms giant declined to comment yesterday, but chief executive Ian Livingston said in July that BT had no plans to become a mobile operator. Had it done so, it would not have been its first foray. BT used to be part of the same company as mobile operator Cellnet, but Cellnet was spun off in an initial public offering in 2001 and later rebranded as O2. It now belongs to Spanish telecoms giant Telefonica. Although BT's willing breakaway from O2 appears to have been a very poor decision in hindsight, the telecoms giant is not in a position to re-enter the market, analysts said yesterday. The British mobile industry is one of the most competitive in the world, and there is not enough spectrum available in the current auction to make BT into a serious fifth player. Moreover, the company has recently ploughed around £1bn into sports rights and is under pressure to make that strategic gamble pay off before it embarks on another. The Government said in the Autumn Statement that it expects a £3.5bn windfall from the 4G auction, which will take place over several weeks next spring. Analyst estimates generally range between £2bn and £4bn, although recent auctions in Holland and Ireland suggest the figure could go much higher.