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Home > Spectrum > Information for Radiocomms Licences > Licensing Policy Manual > Licence exemption
Licence exemption
The licensing regime is established to enable careful planning of the radio spectrum which is a scarce resource. However, some types of radio equipment are licence exempt (i.e. they do not need a WT Act licence to use certain specified frequencies). Equipment is made licence exempt by Regulations made under the WT Act using a Statutory Instrument (SI). New provisions introduced in 2003 require that Ofcom must exempt radio stations, equipment or apparatus where satisfied that their use is not likely to involve any undue interference to other legitimate use of radio spectrum or is contrary to an international obligation.
Qualification for exemption is related to the nature of the equipment/frequencies being used. Factors influencing whether undue interference occurs are:
- Particular frequency assigned for transmission
- Power of transmission
- Use to which equipment is put
- Compliance of equipment with agreed national or international standards, whichever takes precedence.
Because Ofcom will not have much information about the location and use of licence exempt apparatus/ equipment, it is impractical to investigate or manage the interference to, or between, items of exempt apparatus/equipment. Users of such equipment should be aware that there may be heavy sharing at certain locations and the ability of equipment to withstand interference may depend on its design, quality and robustness. There are many past examples of poor quality equipment failing to work in the proximity of compliant licensed networks and services using other frequencies. Ofcom has no powers to regulate the quality of such devices if they comply with the minimum international standards.
When considering frequencies suitable for exemption Ofcom must take into account the difficulties involved in subsequent re-allocation of the spectrum. The problem arises due to the nature of unlicensed / exempt frequencies - i.e. no or very little data exists on its use (who, where, what etc.) – which means that changing the designated use of the spectrum takes time and is difficult to do. Nevertheless Ofcom will continue to make exemption regulations wherever possible.
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