Licence renewal as a regulatory tool

The report covered the “new deal” approach in France in 2018 where licences were renewed free of charge on the condition that thousands of new base stations were built to improve coverage.

Our research also analysed the debate about the renewal of the existing mobile bands in the UK which was finalised in 2015 having been greatly complicated by mergers and takeovers. Another aspect of the study was the renewal of 1800 MHz and 900 MHz licences in Norway in 2013 which led to Tele2 leaving the market.

In an environment where most mobile licences are automatically renewed, the report presents an analysis of the effectiveness of using renewal to fix perceived market failings.