Ofcom's decision to sell off Britain's former analogue TV frequencies has been attacked by a report commissioned for Europe's broadcasters.

The study, for the European Broadcasting Union, claims the public benefits of TV spectrum are likely to be lost because the most useful services aren't guaranteed to be the most wealthy.

"Broadcasting's broader contribution to society dwarfs its size in simple business terms. There is a real risk that policymakers could lose sight of the need to provide a critical mass of spectrum to support DTT, even though this is an existing service with proven value."

Digital TV, in particular, should receive special treatment because of the millions broadcasters spend on original programming is a direct public benefit.

Spectrum regulators are also warned of the "mobile myth" - the idea that mobile broadband in UHF spectrum will generate advantages worth billions of Euros.

Ofcom is one of many European spectrum authorities which wants to auction off former analogue TV spectrum to the highest bidder, once TV has been switched entirely to digital. Potential uses include mobile TV, mobile broadband, and wireless broadband for rural communities.

Many broadcasters, meanwhile, would like to launch more digital TV channels, for hi-def, pay-TV or local TV.

However, Phil Laven, the EBU's adviser on on spectrum policy issues, said the report is not an attack on Ofcom in particular. Mr Laven told the Digital TV Group's Annual Summit that Ofcom had obviously already made an assessment of the critical mass required to support digital terrestrial TV in the UK.