The 5G C-band auctions across Europe: an assessment
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/DPRG-08-2022-0090 |
| Published date | 10 February 2023 |
| Date | 10 February 2023 |
| Pages | 120-137 |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Information management & governance,Information policy |
| Author | Peter Curwen,Jason Whalley |
The 5G C-band auctions across Europe:
an assessment
Peter Curwen and Jason Whalley
Abstract
Purpose –This study aims to investigate how the licensing of 3.6GHz (C-band) spectrum has
progressedthroughout Europe.
Design/methodology/approach –Original databases have been created by the authors covering every
aspect of the C-band auctions in Europe, and these have been subjected to analysis to draw out the key the mes.
Findings –Although there have been delays in licensing the C-band, the process is now largely complete
and the first launches have taken place. However, there has been considerable diversity in the rules
underpinning the licenses and considerable differences in the amounts raised measured in $/MHz/pop.
Research limitations/implications –It is difficult to make comparisons across a substantial sampl e of
disparate countries because of the need to compare on a l ike-for-like basis –an issue that is generally glossed
over in the literature. This has been addressed in this paper but some issues inevi tably remain unresolved.
Practical implications –The development of 5G is highly contingent on the use of the C-band not just in
Europe but elsewhere in the world where less-developed countries can learn from the European experience.
Originality/value –While the subject matter has receivedattention elsewhere, this represents the most
up-to-dateversion with the largest sample of European countries.
Keywords Auction, C-band, Launches, Licensees, Spectrum caps
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
5G is the most recent mobile technology. Due to its ability to deli ver faster speeds and lower
latency than previous generations of mobile technology, 5G has been wel comed by many as a
transformational technology. Not only has a broad range of use ca ses been suggested
(Deloitte, 2018;ITU, 2018) but the economic impact of 5G has also been highlighted by many
commentators –for example, 5G will, by 2035, contribute $3.6tn to the global economy (IHS
Markit, 2019). Another report, looking solely at the European Union (EU) , suggested that 5G
will add e2.2tn to the bloc’s economy between 2020 and 2030 (European Commission, 2020).
But for these benefits to occur, 5G needs to be widelyavailable. 5G is currently being rolled
out –and increasingly being launched –across developed countries and it will eventually
become established worldwide(European 5G Observatory; 2022;GSMA, 2022a). However,
progress is dictated by a number of features thatare not fully appreciated by the millions of
smartphone owners who constantly clamour for ever-faster data transfers across an ever-
wider area. One of these features concerns the use of specific spectrum or bandwidth to
convey the signal from origin to destination.For a variety of reasons, the optimum spectrum
that can be used for 5G in circumstances where human involvement is involved [1] is quite
limited, and much of it is already occupied. It has accordingly been concluded that, with a
view to using spectrum that is still to a great extent unused worldwide and which is
spectrally efficient for the purposes of mobile communications, the spectrum band
comprising 3.4–3.8GHz (3,400–3,800MHz) –otherwise known as the C-band –is the
optimum choice.
Peter Curwen is an
Independent Scholar
based in Leeds, UK.
Jason Whalley is based at
the Newcastle Business
School, Northumbria
University, Newcastle upon
Tyne, UK.
Received 11 August 2022
Revised 1 December 2022
Accepted 19 December 2022
PAGE 120 jDIGITAL POLICY, REGULATION AND GOVERNANCE jVOL. 25 NO. 2 2023, pp. 120-137, ©EmeraldPublishing Limited, ISSN 2398-5038 DOI 10.1108/DPRG-08-2022-0090
A new generation of mobile telephony occurs roughly every 10 years (IDATE Digiworld,
2019b). The first licences for long-term evolution (LTE –more widely known as 4G) were
issued over 10 years ago and in advanced countries, at least, the technology has been
rolled out and is widely available (Curwen and Whalley, 2013a;GSMA, 2022a). As is
customary, initial meetings were held to determine what would be known as 5G while 4G
was being rolled out with the intentionof having the technology specifications agreed world-
wide by 2020 (Curwen and Whalley, 2021).
At the time of writing (December 2022), 5G networks have been extensively licensed
throughout the world and a significant number are now operational (GSMA, 2022a), albeit
rarely at a nationwide level. But these networks are not fully compatible since they use a
variety of spectrum bands and some are more advancedtechnically than others. Although it
can be argued that 5G has developed most rapidly in the USA and relatively advanced
Asian countries such as Japan and South Korea (GSMA, 2022c), it is in Europe that
progress has most obviously been made across a substantial group of related countries
(EU 5G Observatory, 2022;GSMA, 2022b).Hence, when examining the progress of 5G, it is
sensible, at least initially, to concentrate on Europe.
It is increasingly common to use “Europe” and the “European Union” interchangeably. EU
member states, with the exception of the recently departed UK, encompass Europe’s most
developed countries and are governed by a common set of regulations laid down by a single
over-arching body, the European Commission (EC). There are, however, advantages to adopting
a broad geographical approach to determining which countries are within the sample, not least
of which is that the use of the term “Europe” maximises the number of countries that can be
included within the analysis. That said, defining the precise geographical boundaries of Europe
presents difficulties, but as it happens a potentially awkward country such as Russia, which is
largely in Asia but has its main cities in Europe, has yet to licence the C-band nationwide.
Another advantage of adopting a broad geographical focus is that this paper complements
existing research that looks at a smaller number of countries (Ku
s and Massaro, 2022). The
analysis of Ku
s and Massaro (2022) is arguably unusual within the literature on 5G, not only in
terms of its detailed assessment of auctions within Europe, but also because it examines how
spectrum is awarded and not how it may be monetised. The monetisation of 5G has attracted
considerable attention, with researchers examining value creation within the context of verticals
(Curwen and Whalley, 2021) as well as local licences (Ahokangas et al., 2019).
The remainder of this paper is divided into five sections. In Section 2, a brief overview of
contextual information relating to 5G is provided before Section 3 describes the spectrum
allocation methods that are available. The sample is described in Section 4, before an
analysis of auctions in the C-band occurs in Section 5. Conclusions are drawn in the final
section, i.e. Section 6, of the paper.
2. Background
5G is not restricted to one particular spectrum band. However, what follows is concerned
very largely with a single contiguous band of spectrum –3.4–3.8GHz –that is currently
most closely associated with the roll-out and launch of 5G mobile networks. The first
generation to use digital technologyand, hence, allow the transfer of data was 2G. Both 2G,
and the subsequent 3G generationdid not operate in the same spectrum bands worldwide.
However, the growth of the EU meant that the mobile industry needed to operate internally
on a compatible basis. In the case of 2G, the 900 MHz and 1,800 MHz bands had been
selected although they provided relatively little bandwidth, and it happened that the
2.1 GHz was vacantacross the EU so that was enlisted for 3G.
Nevertheless, spectrum remained scarce because the growth of dat a transfers was exceptionally
rapid. To some extent, this could be accommodated by improving the effic iency of 3G
technology, but the advent of 4G meant that the existing spectrum rapidly became inadequate
VOL. 25 NO. 2 2023 jDIGITALPOLICY, REGULATION AND GOVERNANCE jPAGE 121
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