• OFCOM awards national broadband license for UK to Digiweb
• Digiweb to extend its Metro phone and broadband service to Northern Ireland and UK immediately
• 15 year license will also support GSM/3G backhaul and
  corporate leased line replacement services

OFCOM, the national regulator for telecoms and spectrum in the United Kingdom, has announced it is awarding a national wireless broadband license in the 10GHz spectrum to Digiweb for at least the next 15 years.

Digiweb plan to immediately commence construction of their Metro broadband and phone network in Northern Ireland and throughout the UK.  Services are planned to be live in all cities and main towns of Northern Ireland by October of this year, coordinated from new regional offices, and expanding throughout the UK over the next five years.
Digiweb’s flagship service, Metro, provides a combined wireless service with regular phone and a broadband connection up to 12Mbps, without the customer needing a fixed landline or dsl-enabled local exchange.

Digiweb CEO Colm Piercy stated, “We welcome this decision by OFCOM and will build from our existing managed services and satellite broadband business across the UK to ensure a rapid introduction of Metro and other exciting offerings.  We are looking forward to working closely with our UK partners to also deliver innovative backhaul services to 3G operators, CCTV companies, security forces, and corporate and government organisations over our independent networks”.

Other bidders awarded spectrum in the competitive process included T-Mobile, BT, Arqiva, and Orange.
Digiweb is also developing networks under its licences in Norway, Iceland, Finland and Sweden.