Spectrum Pricing – January 2021
Perhaps inevitably, the global COVID-19 epidemic had a major impact on national plans for the assignment of spectrum for mobile services. 2020 saw country after country postpone planned auctions, with many of them slipping quietly in 2021. In spite of the delays, and counting only those auctions/assignments for which GSA has fee data, the total value of spectrum auctions and assignments reached around $27.5 billion in 2020. (Note all 2020 figures in this report have been restated to reflect average annual exchange rates for the full year.)
C-Band auction/assignment update:
GSA has been tracking the assignment and auction of C-Band spectrum in its various reports. Since the end of 2015, it has identified 35 countries/territories that have auctioned or assigned or renewed licences for C-Band spectrum with the intention of opening up the frequency range for mobile broadband and 5G usage. Since our last update in November 2020, two countries have concluded auctions of C-Band spectrum: Czechia and Greece.
The prices paid for the C-Band spectrum have varied widely. The amount operators are prepared to spend depends on the degree of competition, the amount of suitable spectrum they already hold, the length of licence available, the extent of the coverage/performance requirements that are attached to the licence and the economic value of (the amount of money spent by) each mobile end user in the country/territory concerned. Figure 2 shows (where data is available) the prices paid for C-Band spectrum in 5G-relevant auctions since 2015.
mmWave auctions and assignments:
Fewer major mmWave auctions designed to support 5G deployment have yet taken place (although mmWave spectrum has historically commonly been made available for point-to-point networks and other applications). Since our last report in November 2020, only Greece has completed an auction of mmWave spectrum (Australia has offered a number of mmWave spectrum licences through an administrative procedure, but exact details have not yet been revealed).
Spectrum Pricing – January 2021
© GSA 2021
