REGULATOR AND OPERATOR STRATEGIES FOR EXPIRING SPECTRUM LICENCES: RENEW, RE-ASSIGN OR RE-AUCTION?

It is imperative that regulators decide on an approach to re-assigning spectrum only after carefully evaluating their policy objectives.
SpectrumLicence renewals are a time of high tension between national regulatory authorities (NRAs), incumbents and potential market entrants, all of which are likely to have different interests and a lot at stake. Regulators risk harming competition, interrupting services, hindering investment, being regarded as biased or enabling (the continuation of) an inefficient spectrum distribution. Operators risk excessive licence fees, receiving too little high-demand spectrum relative to competitors and being unable to provide service continuity.
This Viewpoint provides:
regulators and operators with a high-level strategy framework for thinking of the interaction between policy objectives and re-assignment approaches
regulators with an overview of the licence renewal approaches used by their peers and allows them to gauge which of these strategies may be an attractive policy option given their national circumstances
operators with an overview of regulatory action and an understanding of which other approaches it might be appropriate for their national regulator to follow.