The 5G Huddle 2020

Spectrum pricing for 5G: a global perspective

6 February 2020

Yi Shen Chan

plumconsulting.co.uk
 What we do

• Plum Consulting provides a comprehensive

advisory service for governments, regulators,
vendors and service providers who are looking
to identify, assign and use spectrum.
• Our advice is based on rigorous economic
analysis and specialist technical knowledge of
radio engineering and we combine this with
extensive market knowledge of the
communications sectors to provide clear and
sound analysis.
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 Overview

• Objectives and principles of spectrum pricing

• How has spectrum pricing worked to date
• What’s different with 5G?
• Observations from the first wave of 5G awards
• Future approaches for 5G

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 Spectrum pricing – what’s the purpose?

“For any resource, including radio spectrum, the primary economic objective
is to maximize the net benefits to society that can be generated from that
resource such that there is an efficient distribution of resources resulting in
maximum benefits to society. Prices are used as an important mechanism to
ensure the spectrum resources are used efficiently by users.” (Source: ITU, ICT
Regulation toolkit)

To promote efficient use of scarce spectrum resource by ensuring sufficient

financial incentives are in place

To cover the costs of spectrum management activity borne by the

spectrum management authority or regulators

To facilitate the achievement of socio-economic and cultural benefits to

the country obtained through the use of spectrum

To contribute to government revenue

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 General spectrum pricing principles

• Spectrum should be allocated to the highest value use or uses to ensure

maximum benefits to society.
• Where there is excess demand, pricing is a tool to enable and encourage
spectrum moving to its highest value use.
• Prices can be determined through market-based mechanisms or
administratively by the regulatory authority.
• Fairness and objectivity – prices or fees should be based on objective factors
and all licence holders in a given frequency band should be treated on an
equitable basis.
• Transparency – the basis on which prices or fees are calculated should be made
clear.
• In the absence of scarcity, prices or fees should be set to recover the costs of
managing the spectrum.

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 A brief history of IMT licensing and pricing

• Excess demand for 3G spectrum

• 5 MHz channels
• Auction the preferred mode of
assignment What about 5G?
• Market-based prices
• Long term licences (lump-sum
fees usually)

2G (GSM) 3G (CDMA/UTMS) 4G (LTE) 5G (NR)

1980 1990 2000 2010 2020

• Direct award/beauty contest • Multiple LTE bands (sub-3 GHz)

• 200kHz channels (900/1800 • Scarcity under most situations
MHz), no scarcity • 5 MHz up to 20 MHz channels
• Annual fees, usually formula- • Shift towards technology /
based (by bandwidth or service neutral licences
transmitter) • Auction/renewals/hybrid awards

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 What’s different with 5G?

• A powerful form of wireless connectivity capable of supporting a multitude of

services (enhanced mobile broadband, massive IoT, ultra-reliable, low latency
communications).
• 5G will eventually be deployed over a vast range of bands – low (sub-1GHz),
mid (1-6 GHz), high (>6 GHz).
• Techniques such as network function virtualisation (NFV) and soft-defined
networking (SDN) allow a single network to be ‘sliced’ to serve heterogenous
user needs
• 5G can be delivered over public or private networks (or a combination of both)
• Different spectrum access mechanisms possible and may be needed to cater for
emerging use cases and new business models

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 First wave of 5G spectrum assignments

• Main focus is on C-band (3.3-3.8 GHz) and mmWave bands (26/28 GHz); use
cases predominantly eMBB.
• To date, >20 countries have assigned C-band; wide variation in prices but
general upwards trend reflecting growing ecosystem around C-band

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 Compared to 4G auctions, C-band awards not too
dissimilar, but…

• Wider recognition of the economics of 5G

and investment needed for network
Comparison of reserve prices and auction premium in
rollout; generally lower auction reserve recent 3.5 GHz auctions
prices and more open approach to
network sharing
• More complex conditions to address
policy objectives and prevent hoarding
• Delicate balance between facilitating
access to large bandwidths (80-100 MHz)
and maintaining adequate competition at
the network and service levels
• Greater receptivity towards use of
comparative tenders or hybrid awards
with a focus on non-price criteria
• Set-asides proposed in some cases (e.g.
Germany, Sweden, Netherlands)

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 5G goes beyond just enhanced mobile broadband

• Bespoke network design to meet different user requirements and preferences

will be more prevalent with 5G

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 mmWave may require different approaches

• Unlike 700 MHz and C-band, mmWave

spectrum is likely to merit a different
approach because:
• Uncertainty over what it will be used for
and the extent of coverage.
• Large amount of bandwidth, such that
supply may exceed demand, or at least
the degree of scarcity may be lower.
• Short range of mmWave (often less than
100m) allows greater sharing possibilities
since interference is less likely.
• Potentially many players beyond the
MNOs that find use for the spectrum, for
example railways for backhaul from the
train, fixed operators for FWA, airports
for dense areas, etc.

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 Addressing spectrum access for industrial users

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 Alternative forms of spectrum access

• Aside the traditional licensing approach, other possible models include:

• Wholesale network (e.g. LTE 450 MHz in some Scandinavian countries)
• Dynamic sharing involving geolocation databases (e.g. TVWS, CBRS);
Licensed Shared Access (LSA) a similar concept but with more regulatory
oversight
• Club model – licensed but not exclusive (e.g. Italy 26 GHz)
• Spectrum brokerage – performing function of spectrum demand aggregation
• Light licensing, local area licensing
• Ideally there would be quick access to spectrum (e.g. through an online
interface) and spectrum database techniques could play a significant role in
facilitating more flexible access arrangements
• As 5G develops and matures, likely to see a combination of different access
models

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 Concluding thoughts

• The principles and objectives of spectrum management and spectrum pricing

are still relevant in the 5G era.
• However, unlike previous generations, 5G is designed to support a multitude of
use cases and requirements across a vast range of frequency bands.
• The economics of 5G and investment challenges, particularly in the case of
eMBB, should be taken into account when in spectrum pricing decisions.
• Divergent approaches to award and pricing observed across countries and these
also differ across spectrum bands.
• To facilitate 5G use cases for industrial sectors, regulators should focus on
removing obstacles to innovation and ensuring regulatory frameworks are
flexible to accommodate different forms of spectrum access.
• Going forward, technical solutions which enable more flexible access and
improved spectrum utilisation could change the nature of spectrum
management and pricing.

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 Thank you
[email protected]

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