FINAL REPORT - Stakeholders - Ofcom

administrations commit themselves to the implementation of harmonised use of specific
frequency bands or standards.
A number of important elements concerning licensing and associated fees and charges
are contained and discussed in ECC and ERC (the predecessor of the ECC)
documentation. In particular ERC Report 53 (May 1998), on the introduction of economic
criteria in spectrum management and the principles of fees and charging in the CEPT
countries, is pertinent. The report discusses both the traditional licensing mechanisms
and a number of aspects of spectrum pricing (administrative pricing, auctions, secondary
market for spectrum rights) and its potential influence on spectrum re-farming,
implementation of migration plans, and the adaptation of traditional spectrum fees to
market conditions. ERC Report 61 on the harmonisation of licensing and ERC Report 76
on the role of spectrum pricing in spectrum management are also valuable references.
7.2.2 National Regulatory Regimes
Most countries require some form of individual licence or authorisation to be held in order
to utilise radio spectrum for radiocommunications services covered by this document.
Within Europe, in Belgium, Germany, Greece, France and Luxembourg, a specific
“spectrum licence” as such is not required, but a frequency assignment must still be
obtained using procedures akin to those used for spectrum licensing in other European
Union Member States, with fees and/or charges applying to these assignments. For
example in Germany in accordance with the 1996 telecommunications law, all services in
2001 were subject to a one-off frequency fee as specified in the regulation (FGebv) and
an annual frequency use ‘contribution’ as stated in the FbeitrV.
The organisational approach to licensing also varies amongst the European Union
Member States. Some have a single, integrated body dealing with all aspects of
spectrum and service licensing, whilst others split these activities between different
organisations. In some cases, the broad policy framework is determined within a
Ministerial Department, while the day-to-day issuing and enforcement of licences is
handled by a separate regulatory body which may report to the Ministerial Department or
may be autonomous. A number of Member States have also established an independent
telecommunications regulator 35 responsible for overseeing competition aspects and
enforcing service licence conditions. Although generally appointed by government,
independent regulators are able to intervene autonomously in areas such as licence
infringements or anti-competitive practices, and act as the NRA with regard to these
activities. For the purposes of international representation, there is usually one
designated NRA in each Member State, although responsibility for specific activities may
be delegated to other relevant bodies such as independent regulators. For the purposes
of the study, we have used the term NRA in the generic sense to refer to all bodies
involved in the licensing and spectrum management processes.
Table 7-1 lists the main organisations involved in spectrum and service licensing in each
of the Member States. Note that in most Member States (10 out of 15), there are two
organisations involved in the licensing process, generally a Ministerial Department
dealing with policy matters and a separate department or Agency dealing with day-to-day
licensing activities. In Spain, two Ministerial Departments are involved - the Ministry of
Economic Affairs supervises the regulator, CMT, while the Ministry of Development's
SETSI is responsible for issuing licences. In the Netherlands and UK there are separate,
independent regulators (OPTA and Ofcom) which are involved in some aspects of licence
35 The term "independent regulator" in this context refers to an organisation that is
independent of Government.
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