FINAL REPORT - Stakeholders - Ofcom

Authorisations 31 , Article 6 of the Licensing Directive required fees to cover only the
administrative costs associated with the authorisation scheme but did not require costs to
be apportioned to individual applicants.
Spectrum Charges are charges which reflect the need to ensure the optimal use of scarce
resources. Article 11.2 of the Licensing Directive allowed Member States to levy such
charges on a non-discriminatory basis, taking into particular account the need to foster
the development of innovative services and competition.
These definitions were chosen simply because in adopting the Authorisation Directive
(see 7.2.1.1 below) confusing terminology has been introduced with the terms
administrative charges and spectrum fees in place of administrative fees and spectrum
charges used in the Licensing Directive. The Consultant’s view is that the terminology of
the Licensing Directive is more usually used around the World and has therefore been
retained in this work.
For the purposes of the study we have also defined a third category of payment, namely a
Spectrum Fee, (see also 7.2.9 below) which, whilst being based on the amount and type
of radio spectrum that is licensed, is set by reference to the NRA's overall costs. We
have treated these spectrum fees separately from other administrative fees and included
them in the overall category of spectrum charges, partly because of their direct correlation
with the amount of spectrum used (and hence their potential role in promoting optimal use
of scarce spectrum resources) and partly because in general they do not appear to bear
any obvious correlation with the costs relating to the specific licence or service category
concerned.
Information has been sought on administrative fees and spectrum charges levied by
around 30 countries. The countries selected for investigation and listed in Annex 8 were
selected for their prominence with respect to one or more of the following criteria:
• A major maritime nation;
• A major aeronautical nation;
• A nation with a progressive approach to telecommunications regulation;
• An important regional country or
• A British Crown Dependency (Isle of Man) or UK Dependent Territory (Bermuda)
offering an independent maritime registration regime.
The four principal radiocommunication activities addressed were:
i) Aeronautical Radiodetermination equipment (Radiolocation and Radionavigation)
operating on land and in aircraft and any satellite variants.
ii) Maritime Radiodetermination equipment (Radiolocation and Radionavigation)
operating on land and in ships and any satellite variants.
iii) Aeronautical Radiocommunication equipment operating on land and in aircraft
and any satellite variants
iv) Maritime Radiocommunication equipment operating on land and in ships and any
satellite variants
31 A similar interpretation would arise in the case of some class licensing systems or
where no specific licence is issued e.g. the administrative costs of administering such
schemes may be recovered.
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