European Countries Will Set Aside Spectrum for Private Licensing

European Countries Will Set Aside Spectrum for Private Licensing
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Licences for spectrum allocated to mobile networks have previously been reserved for MNOs but many European countries look likely to set aside mobile spectrum for private licensing. Network slicing will be a key component of future 5G networks and will support innovative new use cases and business models.

Network slicing will make it possible to allocate network capacity with guaranteed quality of service for particular uses. The German telecoms regulator, BNetzA, reserved 100MHz of spectrum in the 3700MHz-3800MHz band to private companies. According to the regulator, 33 companies have bought 5G private licences so far including Bosch, BMW, BASF, Lufthansa, Siemens and Volkswagen.

In France, frequencies in the 2600 TDD MHz band (band #38, 2570-2620 MHz) have been offered to metropolitan businesses by the regulator ARCEP. Spectrum is granted through a portal opened in May 2019. In the Netherlands, spectrum at 3400-3450 MHz and 3750-3800 MHz is intended to be made available for local use. Nevertheless, the 3500 MHz auction is planned for 2022 as the band is currently used for satellite communications.

Sweden’s 5G auction of the 2.3 and 3.5 GHz bands will reserve 80MHz of frequencies between 3720MHz and 3800MHz for local and regional licences. The process was initially scheduled for Sprint 2020. It has been delayed at the end of 2019. In the UK, OFCOM issued a consultation on draft statutory instruments that would support its local spectrum access and spectrum sharing policies. The regulator will dedicate the 3.8-4.2 GHz band for local deployments, requiring national operators to hand over unused licensed spectrum to enterprises. The lower 26 GHz band will be reserved for private and shared access as well.

Other countries outside Europe including the US, Japan, Australia and Hong Kong are also moving forward with their plans to identify and allocate spectrum for localised, private 5G networks with a primary focus on the 3.7, 26 and 28 GHz frequency bands.