Good news for UK mobile users with poor indoor signal
Telecom regulator Ofcom has published further details of its upcoming auction of 25 MHz of spectrum in the 1.4 GHz band. In a statement on Friday (30 October), the regulator noted that the spectrum will be awarded as a single 25 MHz block through a single-round, sealed-bid auction.
The application window will open in mid-January 2027, and the auction will conclude by the end of February 2027.
This mobile spectrum is incredibly valuable as it will enable mobile network operators to expand network capacity, helping deliver faster and more reliable mobile services. The 1.4 GHz band is already used by major mobile network operators VodafoneThree and O2, and most major smartphones, which means the successful bidder will be able to roll out improvements quickly for consumers.
Notably, this low-frequency band is particularly effective at improving mobile coverage indoors, in rural areas and at the edges of network coverage.
The spectrum is currently being used by used by Inmarsat‘s emergency communication satellite terminals, typically used for ship and airline communications. As a result, Ofcom will also introduce temporary limitations on how and where the band can be used.
Data published by Freshwave in September shows that just 47% of measured indoor floor space in London met Ookla’s minimum threshold for a good mobile signal in the first quarter of 2026.
Ookla, which runs the Speedtest app, said the indoor gap has grown worse in parts of the capital over recent years.
“In London, just 47% of measured indoor floor space met our minimum ‘good’ signal threshold in Q1 2026, while gaps have widened in parts of the city over recent years,” said Luke Kehoe, Lead Analyst at Ookla.
The measurements sit alongside a survey of 900 UK executives that Freshwave, which builds shared indoor mobile networks, published in the same report. London respondents rated their own indoor coverage better than anywhere else in the country, with 19% describing their 4G or 5G signal as average or poor.
That compares with 27% across the North of England, 28% in the Midlands and 34% across Scotland and Wales. Yorkshire and the Humber reported the weakest indoor coverage at 39%, followed by the East Midlands at 37%.
London still has the most to gain in cash terms because of the concentration of businesses there. Freshwave put the capital’s potential productivity uplift from better indoor coverage at around £11 billion a year, or 17.8% of the £63 billion UK total, with the South East close behind at 17.4%.
