Ofcom urges telecoms firms to offer 4G mobile coverage to 98pc of UK However, the regulator's proposals still offered a boon to Three - the UK's smallest national telecoms operator and the one most urgently in need of 4G spectrum. The regulator brushed aside suggestions that three national providers are sufficient to ensure effective competition in the UK, and instead said it will reserve spectrum for "a fourth national wholesaler, by which we mean a bidder other than Everything Everywhere, Telefonica or Vodafone." Ofcom continues to believe that consumers are likely to receive better services at lower prices in the future if there are at least four national wholesalers of mobile services. Without the right quality and mix of spectrum, an operator might struggle to compete with other national wholesale providers," it said. David Dyson, chief executive of Three, hailed the proposals as "pragmatic" and urged Ofcom to keep up the momentum to conduct the auction. Matthew Howett, an analyst at Ovum, added: "It's clear that Ofcom continues to value Three's disruptive nature and wants to, in effect, guarantee its existence post-auction...The decisions they take now are likely to affect the level of competition in the sector for at least a decade. Striking a balance was never going to be easy. Ofcom's proposals are subject to a 10-week consulation, after which the regulator will publish its final plan for the auction, tabled to take place in the fourth quarter of this year. However, Britain has already fallen behind other countries in the rollout of 4G, and analysts and politicians have warned it stands to compromise its position even further if the mobile operators continue to contest the auction rules. The release of the 4G spectrum is crucial to the growth of mobile data, which is forecast to increase 500pc in Western Europe over the next five years. Many major European countries have already completed their auctions, and 4G networks are already being built in the US and Scandinavia.