United Kingdom

[GB] law to permit auction of radio spectrum

IRIS 1998-7:1/17

Tony Prosser

University of Bristol Law School

The UK Wireless Telegraphy Act 1998 came into effect on 18 June 1998. This is an enabling act which permits regulations to be made for the pricing of the radio spectrum. These may take two forms; either fees determined by the Secretary of State reflecting the value of the spectrum or prices determined by the marketplace through auction. The Act permits the first type of fee to be set on the basis of principles other than recovery of cost and this may be applied to existing licences; a substantial increase in fees payable by mobile telecommunications operators is envisaged. The auction procedure will, according to the Government, not be applied to existing services such as broadcasting but only to new services, notably "third generation" mobile telephony.