Best Practice in Licence Renewals Report. Jan 2015
Mobile broadband has grown to 2.3 billion subscriptions globally in just over a decade. On current rates more than half the world’s population will have a mobile broadband subscription by 2018. The increasing demand for mobile services raises the importance of effective spectrum management and of a regulatory framework that supports ongoing high levels of network investment. In the next few years, however, many existing mobile spectrum licences will come to the end of their term.
Unless addressed by licensing authorities, this uncertainty risks deterring investments in extending networks and in deploying new services as well as reducing the incentive for operators to compete more aggressively to grow their customer bases. Consumers may not only be harmed directly but may also miss out on the wider economic benefits of ongoing strong growth in the communications industry.
In this report, we set out international best practice in relation to the renewal of mobile
spectrum licences. In particular, we identify the range of issues raised by licence renewal,
assess the advantages and disadvantages of particular approaches by reference to relevant
policy objectives and market factors and put forward a framework for choosing the best
approach.