Ofcom Website | UK spectrum management
Trading mechanisms, liberalisation of use, access and innovation

Ofcom will take the following steps in 2004-05 to provide a revised spectrum management framework with appropriate market mechanisms and incentives for efficient use and innovation:

1) August 2004

Statement on spectrum trading, published today. Spectrum trading will allow companies and individuals holding licences to operate wireless transmission services to buy and sell their rights in an open market. Ofcom intends that the first classes of licences will become tradeable at the end of 2004.

Ofcom received 114 responses to its spectrum trading consultation published in November 2003; the proposed introduction of spectrum trading generally received strong support from stakeholders.

2) September 2004

Publication of detailed consultation on spectrum liberalisation. This will set out proposals for removing unnecessary restrictions on licences, so that licensees can change the use of spectrum. At present, licences specify in detail the use that can be made of spectrum. Liberalisation will be introduced in a phased way across most types of licence between 2004 and 2007.

3) September 2004

Publication of draft spectrum trading regulations governing the manner in which the new spectrum trading market must operate, together with details of the proposed Ofcom Spectrum Registry (similar in structure and approach to the Land Registry) and a statement on Ofcom�s approach to ensuring effective competition in the spectrum market.

4) November 2004

Publication of Ofcom�s proposed Spectrum Framework Review. This will bring together Ofcom�s conclusions on spectrum trading and liberalisation within the context of a broader strategy on all spectrum management issues.

5) December 2004

Publication of draft roadmap on approach to mobile and wireless broadband services.

6) December 2004

Spectrum trading and liberalisation will launch, beginning with the following licence classes:

Analogue public-access mobile radio
National paging
Data networks
National and regional private business radio
Common base stations
Fixed wireless access
Scanning telemetry
Fixed terrestrial links

7) From 2005

Additional licence classes will become tradeable and restrictions on change of use will be liberalised in 2005 and in each of the subsequent three years. Throughout, Ofcom will also continue to auction released and returned spectrum allocations on a business-as-usual basis.