Over the next 5-10 years, spectrum regulators will need to deal with the expiry of licences across multiple bands and operators. Read more...

PolicyTracker’s spectrum licence renewal benchmark examines the ways in which regulators around the world are dealing with the issue of expiring spectrum licences. Read more...

Several nations in Europe have adopted innovative approaches to spectrum licence renewals, as profiled in this Research Note. In each case, there has been a distinct policy shift over the last decade in terms of both the widespread adoption of administrative renewal mechanisms rather than re-auctions and a policy emphasis… Read more...

Just over twenty per cent of spectrum licence renewals in Europe are based on new awards to re-auction spectrum with expiring licences pending. Many licence renewals in the region are based on multiband auctions, including bands with spectrum which are nearing renewal dates and new 5G bands. The modification or… Read more...

Over 70% of European nations included in the benchmark use administrative procedures to implement licence renewals and extensions. The renewal procedures across the region are used extensively to modify or add new coverage commitments, in some cases in exchange for waived or discounted upfront payments for spectrum grants. Read more...

Regulators in Asia have used both auctions and administrative procedures to renew expiring spectrum licences. Across the nations in the region included in the benchmark, three have used a combination of both methods. The typical approach to licence renewals through auctions adopted in Asia is the simultaneous award of one… Read more...

Most nations in Asia included in the benchmark have used administrative procedures to either renew or extend spectrum licences upon their expiry. The typical administrative approach adopted by regulators in the region is the simultaneous award of one or more bands across multiple operators. Read more...

Nations across the Americas use administrative procedures to renew expiring spectrum licences. Read more...

Across Africa, regulators typically renew or extend individual mobile network operator (MNO) licences on a case-by-case basis, commonly renewing spectrum rights across several bands in a single renewal format. Several regulators in the region have also used renewal processes to convert multiple legacy licences to a Unified Licensing Framework. Read more...

Nations in the Middle East use administrative procedures to renew or extend expiring spectrum licences. Read more...