Spectrum Pricing November 2020
GSA Spectrum Pricing Update to end-October 2020
Perhaps inevitably, the global COVID-19 epidemic has had a major impact on national plans for the assignment of spectrum for mobile services. The second quarter of 2020 saw country after country postpone planned auctions. Since then a few auctions have taken place and more are scheduled for last few weeks of the year. 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 for mobile services already exceeds $35 billion in 2020.
C-Band spectrum has been targeted by many countries as a key resource for 5G, balancing the requirement to achieve coverage with the need to deliver high capacity, while millimetre wave spectrum (mmWave) is being made available to enable the deployment of much smaller, but higher capacity, zones within 5G networks.
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 33 countries/territories that have auctioned or assigned C-Band spectrum with the intention of opening up the frequency range for mobile broadband and 5G usage. Since our last update in July 2020, three countries have concluded auctions of C-Band spectrum: France, Israel and the USA.
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.
Spectrum Pricing November 2020
©GSA 2020
