New iteration of PolicyTracker Spectrum Database tracks 11 auctions across six bands. The last three months included two potentially expensive spectrum auctions. Operators in one of these countries, Pakistan, largely shunned the award; but Canadian operators ended up paying record prices. These auction results are reported in the 2021 Q3… Read more...

Spectrum management is complicated. Engineers, lawyers, policy makers and investors all think about spectrum in different ways. Further, many different types of organizations are relevant for spectrum management, and they often have viewpoints that conflict with each other. These views also seem to vary by region. Even allocations for the… Read more...

Being a confusing subject, spectrum managers often resort to talking about frequencies as if it is land. This is intuitive because many spectrum policy concepts apply to real estate too. A usage right can be thought of as owning land, while technical limits on usage resemble planning permission rules. It… Read more...

There is still time to book for our Valuing the Spectrum and Spectrum Auctions online training courses which are being held in two weeks time. These two-day courses are essential for anyone involved in buying or selling spectrum licences and there is a discount for booking them together. Valuing the Spectrum… Read more...

Despite all of the controversy surrounding identifying spectrum for mobile broadband above 24 GHz, most of the recent 5G deployments have been in the mid-band frequencies, specially around 3.5 GHz. Earlier this year, acting FCC Commissioner, Jessica Rosenworcel, praised the FCC's pivot from high-bands to mid-bands. But as we document… Read more...

Portugal’s multi-band spectrum auction is still going on, almost a year after it began. The main bidding phase of the sale of 700 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2.1 GHz, 2.6 GHz and 3.6 GHz frequencies started on 14 January, although the award has been running in some form since… Read more...

Looking at a list of utilities, most people today would likely identify a missing piece, broadband. In this day and age, where much of our professional and personal lives revolves around the Internet, shouldn’t it be considered a utility? Over 75 per cent of US consumers thinks so, according to… Read more...

The mobile and satellite industries, while complementary in many ways, have often been pitted against each other in the world of spectrum management. But with the emergence of 5G in the last few years there have been hopes, explored in a PolicyTracker Spectrum Research Service Dossier, that this relationship may… Read more...

The Netherlands' centuries-long taming of the North Sea has made its people expert at civil engineering and social cooperation. But while it may be able to build cities and airports below sea level, it has not been able to solve another problem: how to allow satellite and mobile services to… Read more...

A common cliche is that history repeats itself. Radio spectrum, of course, is no exception. A decade ago the digitisation of terrestrial television created a digital dividend: more low-band spectrum available for mobile broadband, particularly for emerging 4G services. This prompted a wave of 800 MHz band auctions. Many countries,… Read more...