Understanding total licence cost in mobile spectrum management

This is the first in a series of analytical pieces from GSMA Intelligence looking at how the cost of mobile spectrum is measured.

Around the world, national regulators use different financial models when charging for mobile spectrum. Despite the different approaches, the overall aims are consistent – to cover the costs of spectrum management, to efficiently manage spectrum demand across competing use cases or to generate revenues for the state.

The most commonly used type of analysis for comparing access spectrum costs is $/MHz/population. This calculation takes the price paid when spectrum is awarded and divides by the amount of spectrum awarded and then the population. This report examines the impact of looking at the total licence cost (rather than just spectrum assignment costs) on the more traditional ways of making comparisons.