The MoD alone owns about a third of the most valuable and
congested sub-15GHz spectrum, Ofcom said. It said that the spectrum
owned by public bodies is worth between £3 billion and £20
billion.
"Public bodies and the MoD in particular hold some of the most
valuable and sought-after radio spectrum," said Ed Richards, the
chief executive of communications regulator Ofcom. "By working with
these organisations we are enabling them to trade and release this
spectrum which will create new opportunities for the development of
wireless services for the whole country.”
The MoD has said that it will share a "significant proportion"
of its spectrum and will consult on plans in May.
"The MoD is fully committed to the programme of reform in the
framework for managing public sector spectrum holdings," it said in
its response to Ofcom's consultation process. "This includes direct
interaction with the market."
Ofcom said that there is significant pent-up demand for extra
spectrum, from mobile phone networks in particular. "Spectrum
underpins 3% of UK GDP and its value to the economy has grown by
50% in real terms since 2002 to over £40 billion a year," said
Ofcom's report into spectrum sharing and trading. "Demand from
commercial operators for certain frequencies, especially those
suitable for mobile applications, already exceeds availability and
this trend is forecast to continue into the medium term."
Mobile network demand is being fuelled by increasing use of
multimedia services on phones such as music, video, web surfing and
picture messaging.
At times of technology industry buoyancy, spectrum can be
immensely valuable. In the UK in 2000 third generation (3G) mobile
phone licences raised £22.5 billion for the government. That is now
viewed as being excessive and mobile networks have suffered the
consequences in subsequent disappointing financial results.
Ofcom said that it will publish new regulations governing
selling, trading and sharing spectrum, and that it will consult
further on these in the summer. It said that the Government would
take responsibility for ensuring that the public sector functions
of security, defence and safety are not compromised by the new use
or sale of spectrum.
