CK Hutchison’s 3 UK signed a deal to buy telecoms fixed wireless operator UK Broadband from Hong Kong-based quad-play company PCCW for £250 million.

UK Broadband provides wireless spectrum to organisations in London and the south west of England. It currently holds a range of assets suitable for a mixture of LTE and 5G, including 124MHz of spectrum in the 3GHz and 3.6GHz bands, as well as allocations in the 3.9GHz, 28GHz and 40GHz bands. The company garnered a total of 15,000 customers across the corporate and public sectors in the UK.

The deal includes a number of undisclosed conditions, and 3 expects to close the transaction around the middle of 2017. As part of the agreement, a deferred £50 million worth of credit will be made available to PCCW for the provision of an MVNO on 3’s network.

Announcing the deal, 3 UK CEO Dave Dyson (pictured), said: “UK Broadband gives us an opportunity to expand our ambition to provide high quality and great value internet connectivity for UK consumers.”

Since the company’s proposed merger with O2 was blocked by the EU last year, 3’s executives have made numerous statements criticising the spread of spectrum allocation in the UK. The company also petitioned regulator Ofcom to add stringent rules to future auctions to enable 3 UK to compete with allocations held by other providers in the market.