Spectrum Research Service now includes licence renewal benchmark

The sheer scale of spectrum licences reaching maturity makes this a huge issue as regulators seek to balance multiple policy objectives. These include ensuring continuity of service for end users, long-term market certainty and stability, and investment and deployment incentives for operators.

Decisions on the modification or addition of new licence obligations, notably in terms of coverage, also play into the mix, as do decisions on renewed spectrum pricing.

The most common bands with pending expiring licences are the legacy 2G/3G 900 MHz and 1800 MHz bands, along with the 2100 MHz band. According to the mobile industry association, the GSMA, licences in 43 markets will expire in 2026, mainly in Europe.

With this complex context in mind, PolicyTracker has conducted an extensive benchmarking exercise examining licence renewal and extension policy approaches across a representative number of nations in all regions of the world. The approaches in place to deal with expiring licences are categorised and distinguished along the following lines:

• Licence renewal: On the expiry of a licence, the licence holder retains its existing spectrum holdings and renewal is based on an administrative assignment mechanism.
• Partial licence renewal: A portion of previously licensed spectrum is reserved for existing licence holders available at a fixed price and administratively assigned. The remainder of spectrum in a given band is then offered at auction.
• Licence extension: Transitional short-term extensions to harmonise licence expiry dates in preparation for a future multi-band award or as part of band replanning and future reassignments based on longer-term awards.
• New award/re-auctioned spectrum: Expiring licensed spectrum is put to auction with no guarantee that licence holders will retain their existing spectrum holdings.

Several key trends are discernible, based on recent and planned renewal policy approaches, including a clear preference for the use of administrative procedures to implement licence renewals or extensions, rather than re-auctioning spectrum in bands with pending expiring licences.

The benchmark includes a series of Research Notes as outlined below, along with a comprehensive data set and an interactive visual data explorer. The Spectrum Licence Renewal Benchmark Research Notes are:

• Backgrounder – Licence renewal is a high priority and complex issue
• Global and regional overview
• Novel approaches in selected nations in Europe
• Europe – Part 1: Use of auction mechanisms
• Europe – Part 2: Use of administrative mechanisms
• Asia – Part 1: Use of auction and hybrid mechanisms
• Asia – Part 2: Use of administrative mechanisms
• Americas – Use of administrative mechanisms
• Africa – use of administrative mechanisms
• Middle East – use of administrative mechanisms