Spectrum Tracker
High-Band Awards benchmark updated to include the results of the UK’s award of 26GHz and 40GHz frequency bands
We’ve updated the High-Band Awards benchmark in our Spectrum Tracker to include the results of the 26GHz and 40GHz auction conducted by Ofcom in the UK. Our benchmark includes the details of 11 auctions of frequencies in the 26GHz band conducted so far, including eight in Europe – Austria, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Spain and the UK. Among these countries, Ireland was the first to award mmWave spectrum in June 2018, closely followed by Italy, in October 2018. These auctions raised vastly different sums, with Italy’s total value for the 1000MHz of spectrum awarded costing the five participating operators a total of €164m (£145m). On a per MHz of the population basis, operators in Italy paid the most in Europe for spectrum in the 26GHz band, equalling nearly 800% more than their counterparts in Ireland in the same year. Though operators in the UK paid a greater per MHz price than a number of their European peers, the UK’s auction saw the lowest price per MHz of the population overall, approximately 94% less than that of the Italian auction. While these calculations have been made using the total population of each country, there may be some discrepancies in these comparisons, given that mmWave licences were awarded on a national basis in some European countries, including Austria, and on a regional basis in others, including the UK.
Far fewer countries have demonstrated a demand for even higher frequency spectrum to date. The UK joins only Norway and the US in having awarded spectrum above the 26GHz band. In the US, 3400MHz of spectrum in the 37GHz, 39GHz and 47GHz bands was auctioned in 2020 for net proceeds of $4.5bn (£3.5bn) or an average price per MHz of the population of $0.00397 (£0.0031). Totalling only £15m in value raised, the UK’s 40MHz auction cost operators approximately £0.00007 per MHz of the population, or 98% less than that paid by US counterparts. Norway’s 2020 auction across a range of high-band frequencies, from 10GHz to 38GHz, yielded NOK34m (£2.9m) in total for nearly 4000MHz of spectrum awarded, or approximately 85% more at £0.00013 per MHz per capita than the UK’s 40MHz auction.
