Implications of international regulation and technical considerations on market mechanisms in spectrum management

A report to the Independent Radio Spectrum Management Review

by Aegis Systems Ltd and Indepen Consulting Ltd, November 2001

The world of radiocommunications has seen tremendous changes in the last decade. The speed and complexity of change makes it extremely difficult to predict future demands for spectrum. This makes the task of regulating spectrum usage increasingly challenging. The Radiocommunications Agency has, since 1998, introduced a number of market-based spectrum management approaches, augmenting its regulatory toolkit, to help in this task. The Independent Radio Spectrum Management Review was commissioned by DTI and H M Treasury in March 2001 to advise on what more could be done to ensure that spectrum is used as efficiently as possible, including through the use of spectrum valuation, pricing and trading.

To assist in this task, the Review commissioned Aegis Systems Ltd and Indepen Consulting Ltd to provide an expert study on two areas which are likely to have a significant bearing on the implementation of market based spectrum management in the UK, namely the international regulatory framework and the interference management framework. Aegis/Indepen were asked to advise on the impact of the international regulatory framework and the constraints caused by the need for interference management on:

• The application of opportunity cost and other economic principles
• The use of spectrum trading and auctions
• The use of overlay licences
• Achieving greater autonomy in domestic spectrum policy, including the implementation of a more general (service independent) licensing regime.

Aegis/Indepen were also asked to advise on the ways in which technology developments may promote market based spectrum management, how the international framework might be changed to facilitate greater use of market mechanisms, and how e-commerce and e-government could be used to assist in the application of market mechanisms.

This report represents Aegis/Indepen’s findings. The report will be used as an input to the Independent Radio Spectrum Management Review.

This report is available to download as:

	Word Document (21 KB)
	Adobe PDF Document (6.7 KB)
	Zipped up Word Document (3.3 KB)