The Digital Dividend auction, scheduled for April 2013, will reallocate Australia's 700MHz and 2.5GHz spectrum. The because it can be used for . The spectrum will become available when broadcasters turn off analog service at the end of 2014.

Vodafone doesn't need to participate in the Digital Dividend auction, said Stephen Moore, managing partner of Moore Wright Associates. Moore worked for Vodafone in the early '90s. "They have both 900MHz and 1800MHz spectrum, which in combination is good enough for what they're doing," he said. "700MHz is great, but if you've got 900MHz, why do you need it?"

Vodafone is "not short on spectrum," Telsyte analyst Chris Coughlan said.

In late July, Hutchison CEO Bill Morrow said that even if it does not bid for 700MHz because it already has a large amount of spectrum and could comfortably deploy 4G LTE over its 1800MHz frequencies. Vodafone plans to reach a decision in the next few months, he said.

Morrow noted that bidding would likely be too expensive with three carriers seeking 20 MHz of spectrum, when only 45MHz is available. Using existing 1800MHz spectrum could also be an advantage because that band is already used around the world for LTE, he said. The 700MHz spectrum to be provided under the Digital Dividend will require special microchips in phones, he said.